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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 124 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. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. When was this ________________ built?
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  20. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. file — a tool
  4. branch — a division
  5. file — a document
  6. temple — a place of worship
  7. file — a line of people
  8. bass — low music
  9. mate — a friend
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. deal — an agreement
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. mate — to breed
  15. mine — for digging
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. deal — a big deal
  18. bass — the fish
  19. temple — side of the head
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. deal — to handle
  24. bark — to shout

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