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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. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. Did you ________________ the button?
  8. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. row — to paddle
  3. bark — to shout
  4. cold — an illness
  5. leaves — lets stay
  6. row — a line
  7. press — to push
  8. press — newspapers
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. leaves — of a tree
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. cold — not warm
  14. press — a publisher
  15. scale — in music
  16. leaves — to go away
  17. tear — from crying
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. tear — to rip
  20. scale — size or range
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. tear — from crying
  24. row — a quarrel

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