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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. I can't ________________ this cold.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  21. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  22. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  23. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — to bear
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. dip — to dunk
  4. race — humankind
  5. dip — to sink
  6. track — to keep track
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. wound — an injury
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. file — a line of people
  11. race — the arms race
  12. wound — an injury
  13. row — to paddle
  14. bark — to shout
  15. race — a contest
  16. track — a path
  17. row — a line
  18. file — a tool
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. track — a song
  21. dip — a sauce
  22. stand — for spectators
  23. stand — on your feet
  24. file — a document

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