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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  7. That was ________________ to happen.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  15. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. The ________________ went through the wall.
  22. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. file — a tool
  3. file — a document
  4. lean — to bend
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. bound — certain
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. band — a ring
  10. lean — to rest against
  11. bark — to shout
  12. scale — size or range
  13. file — a line of people
  14. lean — thin
  15. nail — on a finger
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. band — a music group
  18. bound — obliged
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. scale — in music
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. bound — tied together
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. mine — belonging to me

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