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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. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  5. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  6. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  16. Have you met the new head ________________?
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. The King held a masked ________________.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. object — to protest
  3. bat — the animal
  4. ball — a round shape
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. ball — a great time
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. coach — pulled by horses
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. object — a thing
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. cold — not warm
  15. object — an aim
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. branch — a division
  19. ball — a dance
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. cold — an illness
  23. wake — to stop sleeping
  24. wake — a trail

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