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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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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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. We're almost out of ________________.
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  22. Don't do anything ________________.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. He is as ________________ as a wolf.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. file — a line of people
  4. pop — soda
  5. pop — to visit
  6. file — a tool
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. content — the amount
  9. rash — a series
  10. pop — music
  11. lean — to bend
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. rock — to move gently
  14. clip — for paper
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. rock — a stone
  17. content — happy
  18. bark — to shout
  19. clip — a video
  20. clip — to cut
  21. lean — to rest against
  22. rash — hasty
  23. file — a document
  24. lean — thin

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