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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: bark · mine · tear · board · pass · cell

  1. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  2. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  9. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. pass — to spend time
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. tear — from crying
  5. board — to get on
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. tear — from crying
  8. pass — a permit
  9. board — a committee
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. cell — a phone
  12. tear — to rip
  13. bark — to shout
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. mine — for digging
  16. board — a flat piece
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. cell — in biology

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