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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. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  21. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. club — for golf
  3. shower — to wash
  4. tube — the underground
  5. shower — rain
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. spring — a coil
  8. spring — the season
  9. scale — in music
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. spring — of water
  15. pit — a hole
  16. bark — to shout
  17. wake — a trail
  18. scale — size or range
  19. pit — in a race
  20. pit — a fruit stone
  21. club — for dancing
  22. club — a group
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. tube — a container

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