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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. We're on a ________________ here.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. The tickets are free of ________________.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  20. That was ________________ to happen.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  24. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. file — a line of people
  4. roll — a cake
  5. march — the month
  6. bound — obliged
  7. roll — on a roll
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. spell — letters
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. spell — a short time
  12. tube — the underground
  13. file — a tool
  14. bound — tied together
  15. march — music
  16. file — a document
  17. charge — a price
  18. bark — to shout
  19. charge — electricity
  20. bound — certain
  21. spell — magic
  22. tube — a container
  23. roll — a list
  24. charge — in control

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