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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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  16. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. rock — a stone
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. pitch — completely
  5. tear — from crying
  6. root — of a word
  7. bark — to shout
  8. tear — from crying
  9. net — for catching
  10. wound — an injury
  11. file — a tool
  12. net — after costs
  13. tear — to rip
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. rock — to move gently
  16. pitch — a sports field
  17. file — a document
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. root — of a plant
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. file — a line of people
  22. root — the cause
  23. net — in sport
  24. wound — an injury

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