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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. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. We're on a ________________ here.
  9. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. file — a line of people
  3. bowl — to roll
  4. bark — to shout
  5. bowl — a dish
  6. wound — an injury
  7. drill — army training
  8. roll — on a roll
  9. bowl — a football final
  10. file — a document
  11. drill — a practice
  12. fall — to drop
  13. roll — a list
  14. fall — the season
  15. drill — the tool
  16. roll — a cake
  17. wound — an injury
  18. fall — to drop
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. file — a tool
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. chest — a box
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. chest — of your body

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