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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. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  10. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  13. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  14. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. spring — of water
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. face — to confront
  6. rest — a break
  7. kid — child
  8. track — a song
  9. track — a path
  10. rest — what's left
  11. face — part of the head
  12. bore — to tire
  13. track — to keep track
  14. bore — to drill
  15. face — to point toward
  16. rest — what's left
  17. bark — to shout
  18. spring — the season
  19. pound — a weight
  20. spring — a coil
  21. bore — gave birth
  22. kid — to tease
  23. pound — to hit hard
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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