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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  6. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  11. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. What do you think of the new ________________?
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. file — a document
  5. object — a thing
  6. object — to protest
  7. bark — to shout
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. cabinet — a cupboard
  12. sharp — clever
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. object — an aim
  15. scale — size or range
  16. file — a line of people
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. file — a tool
  19. shower — to wash
  20. scale — in music
  21. shower — rain
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. sharp — with an edge

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