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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. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  4. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  15. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  18. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  19. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  20. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. leaves — to go away
  4. pound — to hit hard
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. spell — magic
  8. last — final
  9. row — to paddle
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. bark — to shout
  12. leaves — of a tree
  13. spell — a short time
  14. track — to keep track
  15. track — a path
  16. row — a line
  17. pound — for dogs
  18. leaves — lets stay
  19. pound — a weight
  20. track — a song
  21. last — to go on
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. spell — letters
  24. last — finally

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