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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 116 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. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  22. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. fall — to drop
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. capital — money
  5. fall — the season
  6. wave — a sudden rise
  7. cold — an illness
  8. mine — for digging
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. wave — with your hand
  12. rash — a series
  13. capital — a city
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. fall — to drop
  16. cold — not warm
  17. coach — pulled by horses
  18. rash — hasty
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. wave — of the sea
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. bark — to shout

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