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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. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  18. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — on the skin
  2. clip — to cut
  3. hide — animal skin
  4. ground — a position
  5. file — a tool
  6. content — the amount
  7. content — happy
  8. rash — hasty
  9. file — a line of people
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. file — a document
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. clip — a video
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. rash — a series
  19. ground — crushed
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. clip — for paper
  22. bark — to shout
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. ground — the earth

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