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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. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  12. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. file — a tool
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. file — a line of people
  7. swing — in golf
  8. fine — a penalty
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. band — a ring
  11. lash — to lash out
  12. lash — an eyelash
  13. bark — to shout
  14. lash — a whip stroke
  15. race — humankind
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. mine — for digging
  18. race — a contest
  19. file — a document
  20. swing — music
  21. race — the arms race
  22. swing — to play on
  23. fine — all right
  24. band — a music group

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