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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. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  13. What do you think of the new ________________?
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. bark — to shout
  4. game — wild animals
  5. wound — an injury
  6. saw — past of 'see'
  7. file — a line of people
  8. wound — an injury
  9. cabinet — a cupboard
  10. game — a match
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. saw — the tool
  16. file — a document
  17. saw — the tool
  18. file — a tool

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