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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. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — a stick
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. file — a line of people
  4. bark — to shout
  5. bat — the animal
  6. spring — a coil
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. file — a tool
  9. firm — steady
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. staff — employees
  12. clip — to cut
  13. spring — of water
  14. file — a document
  15. clip — a video
  16. staff — employees
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. firm — decided
  19. spell — letters
  20. firm — a company
  21. spring — the season
  22. spell — magic
  23. clip — for paper
  24. spell — a short time

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