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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. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  12. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. firm — steady
  4. cold — not warm
  5. file — a line of people
  6. deal — to handle
  7. cold — an illness
  8. file — a tool
  9. deal — an agreement
  10. court — for sport
  11. firm — decided
  12. deal — a big deal
  13. court — of law
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. court — of a king
  17. firm — a company
  18. file — a document

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