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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 120 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. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  7. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  17. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. band — a music group
  3. bark — to shout
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. spell — magic
  6. lash — a whip stroke
  7. mark — a trace
  8. hand — help
  9. lash — to lash out
  10. spell — letters
  11. band — a ring
  12. file — a document
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. spell — a short time
  15. file — a line of people
  16. mark — a grade
  17. lash — an eyelash
  18. row — to paddle
  19. row — a line
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. hand — in cards
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. file — a tool

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