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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. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  7. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  13. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  22. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. file — a line of people
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. bark — to shout
  6. can — a tin
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. file — a document
  9. board — a committee
  10. cold — an illness
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. board — a flat piece
  13. fan — to cool the air
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. game — wild animals
  16. file — a tool
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. board — to get on
  19. bat — the animal
  20. cold — not warm
  21. can — to be able to
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. game — a match
  24. cold — the Cold War

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