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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 116 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. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  14. This piece is in a major ________________.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  22. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. bore — gave birth
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. key — for a lock
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. file — a tool
  7. file — a line of people
  8. band — a music group
  9. land — ground
  10. land — a country
  11. file — a document
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. key — the most important part
  14. key — in music
  15. bat — the animal
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. root — of a word
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. bore — to tire
  20. land — to come down
  21. bore — to drill
  22. root — of a plant
  23. root — the cause
  24. bark — to shout

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