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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. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  10. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to drill
  2. file — a line of people
  3. march — the month
  4. file — a tool
  5. march — music
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. land — ground
  8. pound — a weight
  9. bore — gave birth
  10. pound — for dogs
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. stock — shares
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. file — a document
  15. degree — from a university
  16. land — to come down
  17. bore — to tire
  18. degree — an amount
  19. pound — to hit hard
  20. degree — temperature
  21. bark — to shout
  22. land — a country
  23. stock — goods
  24. march — the month

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