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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'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  6. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  7. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. vault — a safe
  6. rock — music
  7. rock — to move gently
  8. band — a music group
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. file — a line of people
  11. content — the amount
  12. season — of the year
  13. content — happy
  14. vault — in gymnastics
  15. bark — to shout
  16. file — a tool
  17. land — a country
  18. land — to come down
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. band — a ring
  21. file — a document
  22. rock — a stone
  23. season — in sport
  24. vault — an arched ceiling

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