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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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Word bank
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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: ground · wind · march · bark · tube · lie · staff · pitcher

  1. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  6. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. lie — an untruth
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. lie — to recline
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. ground — the earth
  8. ground — a position
  9. march — the month
  10. wind — moving air
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. staff — a stick
  13. tube — the underground
  14. staff — employees
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. staff — employees
  17. march — the month
  18. tube — a container
  19. wind — moving air
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. march — music
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. bark — to shout

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