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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  15. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. file — a document
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. stem — to come from
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. dip — a sauce
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. face — to point toward
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. cell — a phone
  11. face — part of the head
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. file — a tool
  14. dip — to dunk
  15. kick — a thrill
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. face — to confront
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. cell — in biology
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. file — a line of people
  23. dip — to sink
  24. kick — in football

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com