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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: face · bat · wound · mouse · board · bass · bark · leaves

  1. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  9. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  18. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  19. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. leaves — of a tree
  3. face — to point toward
  4. board — a committee
  5. face — part of the head
  6. mouse — for a computer
  7. bass — the fish
  8. mouse — the animal
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. face — to confront
  12. leaves — lets stay
  13. bat — the animal
  14. wound — an injury
  15. wound — an injury
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. board — to get on
  18. leaves — to go away
  19. bass — low music
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. board — a flat piece
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. bark — to shout
  24. bat — for baseball

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