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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 settled on a ________________?
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. We're on a ________________ here.
  23. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. file — a document
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. bat — the animal
  5. content — the amount
  6. file — a line of people
  7. bark — to shout
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. last — final
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. hand — in cards
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. roll — a list
  15. last — to go on
  16. roll — a cake
  17. hand — help
  18. last — finally
  19. content — happy
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. roll — on a roll
  23. date — the fruit
  24. file — a tool

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