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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. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — a trace
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. file — a document
  4. chest — of your body
  5. bear — the animal
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. mark — to pay attention
  8. scale — in music
  9. chest — a box
  10. file — a line of people
  11. bark — to shout
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. bear — the animal
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. bear — to put up with
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. mine — for digging
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. file — a tool
  22. chest — of your body
  23. mark — a grade
  24. scale — size or range

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