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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. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  4. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  7. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. We're on a ________________ here.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  22. The ________________ took off on time.
  23. This piece is in a major ________________.
  24. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. file — a line of people
  3. roll — a cake
  4. roll — a list
  5. wind — moving air
  6. key — the most important part
  7. plane — in geometry
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. row — to paddle
  10. roll — on a roll
  11. wind — moving air
  12. file — a document
  13. wound — an injury
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. row — a line
  16. file — a tool
  17. bark — to shout
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. wound — an injury
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. plane — a tool
  22. plane — an aircraft
  23. key — in music
  24. key — for a lock

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