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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. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  4. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. I can't ________________ this cold.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  21. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. present — there
  3. stand — for spectators
  4. stand — on your feet
  5. face — part of the head
  6. face — to confront
  7. stand — to bear
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. spell — a short time
  10. club — a group
  11. band — a ring
  12. face — to point toward
  13. spell — letters
  14. file — a tool
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. present — a gift
  17. club — for dancing
  18. spell — magic
  19. bark — to shout
  20. club — for golf
  21. present — the time now
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. file — a document
  24. file — a line of people

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