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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. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. 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. net — for catching
  2. net — in sport
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. present — there
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. file — a line of people
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. chest — of your body
  9. net — after costs
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. chest — of your body
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. present — the time now
  14. club — for golf
  15. cell — in biology
  16. chest — a box
  17. club — for dancing
  18. club — a group
  19. cell — a phone
  20. bark — to shout
  21. present — a gift
  22. fork — in a road
  23. file — a document
  24. 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