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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. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. Did you ________________ the meat?
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. object — an aim
  2. file — a tool
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. season — in sport
  6. object — to protest
  7. march — music
  8. row — a line
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. march — the month
  12. march — the month
  13. season — of the year
  14. file — a line of people
  15. race — a contest
  16. file — a document
  17. bark — to shout
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. race — humankind
  20. season — to add flavour
  21. race — the arms race
  22. object — a thing
  23. row — to paddle
  24. wake — a trail

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