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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. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  2. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  12. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  13. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. I'll be taking the ________________.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — of a tree
  2. leaves — to go away
  3. scale — size or range
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. land — to come down
  7. leaves — lets stay
  8. fall — to drop
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. clip — for paper
  11. dip — to dunk
  12. dip — to sink
  13. dip — a sauce
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. clip — a video
  16. fall — the season
  17. scale — in music
  18. tube — a container
  19. bark — to shout
  20. fall — to drop
  21. tube — the underground
  22. clip — to cut
  23. land — a country
  24. land — ground

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