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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. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. The ________________ took off on time.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. bark — to shout
  3. plane — an aircraft
  4. spring — the season
  5. cell — a phone
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. file — a document
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. ground — a position
  11. calf — of the leg
  12. cell — in biology
  13. ground — crushed
  14. ground — the earth
  15. plane — in geometry
  16. spring — a coil
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. spring — of water
  22. file — a tool
  23. plane — a tool
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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