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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 don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  13. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  22. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  23. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — the animal
  2. snap — to click
  3. file — a document
  4. degree — from a university
  5. file — a tool
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. track — a song
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. pop — soda
  11. track — a path
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. craft — a handicraft
  14. degree — an amount
  15. mouse — for a computer
  16. pop — to visit
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. file — a line of people
  19. degree — temperature
  20. bark — to shout
  21. track — to keep track
  22. craft — boats
  23. craft — a skill
  24. pop — music

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