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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 your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  6. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  9. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  16. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. The ________________ took off on time.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  21. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  22. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. file — a line of people
  3. bark — to shout
  4. wound — an injury
  5. plane — in geometry
  6. fine — high quality
  7. file — a tool
  8. bowl — a dish
  9. dip — to dunk
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. dip — a sauce
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. sharp — clever
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. fine — all right
  16. fine — a penalty
  17. file — a document
  18. plane — an aircraft
  19. wound — an injury
  20. dip — to sink
  21. sharp — with an edge
  22. plane — a tool
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. bowl — a football final

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