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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. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. Have you found your soul ________________?
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. Have you met the new head ________________?
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. drill — a practice
  3. bark — to shout
  4. content — happy
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. firm — decided
  8. swing — music
  9. drill — army training
  10. content — the amount
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. firm — a company
  13. file — a tool
  14. firm — steady
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. mate — a friend
  17. drill — the tool
  18. mate — a partner
  19. swing — to play on
  20. file — a document
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. file — a line of people
  24. swing — in golf

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