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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. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  24. I'll take my ________________ from you.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. bark — to shout
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. file — a document
  7. last — final
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. stem — to come from
  10. cell — a phone
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. last — finally
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. row — a line
  16. row — to paddle
  17. cue — for pool
  18. last — to go on
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. cell — in biology
  21. wax — to grow
  22. file — a tool
  23. cue — a signal
  24. cue — a hint

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