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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. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  3. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. Have you met the new head ________________?
  21. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  22. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  23. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. bore — to tire
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. tear — from crying
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. tube — the underground
  7. shower — to wash
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. tear — from crying
  10. tear — to rip
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. field — for sport
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. field — farmland
  15. field — a subject
  16. shower — rain
  17. coach — pulled by horses
  18. tube — a container
  19. bark — to shout
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. bore — to drill
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. bore — gave birth
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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