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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 120 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. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  3. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  4. He works in a ________________ mill.
  5. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. chip — in a computer
  3. pit — a hole
  4. saw — the tool
  5. pit — a fruit stone
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. spell — magic
  8. saw — the tool
  9. rock — to move gently
  10. file — a document
  11. spell — letters
  12. chip — to eat
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. bark — to shout
  15. chip — for betting
  16. file — a tool
  17. rock — music
  18. spell — a short time
  19. pit — in a race
  20. rock — a stone
  21. row — to paddle
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. file — a line of people
  24. row — a quarrel

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