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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 pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  12. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. file — a tool
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. stem — a stem cell
  5. row — a line
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. bark — to shout
  8. game — a match
  9. row — to paddle
  10. file — a document
  11. board — a flat piece
  12. board — a committee
  13. stem — to come from
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. board — to get on
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. file — a line of people

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