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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 124 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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  23. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. face — to point toward
  4. bark — to shout
  5. scale — in music
  6. face — part of the head
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. bat — the animal
  9. branch — a division
  10. wind — moving air
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. face — to confront
  13. rock — a stone
  14. scale — size or range
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. rock — to move gently
  17. wind — moving air
  18. mouse — the animal
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. mouse — for a computer
  23. mouse — the animal
  24. bat — in an idiom

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