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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. It's one o'clock ________________.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  12. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  13. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — exactly
  2. mine — for digging
  3. face — part of the head
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. file — a line of people
  8. lash — to lash out
  9. file — a document
  10. bark — to shout
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. lash — an eyelash
  13. lash — a whip stroke
  14. face — to point toward
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. face — to confront
  19. cold — an illness
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. file — a tool
  22. sharp — clever
  23. cold — not warm
  24. mine — belonging to me

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