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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  15. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  16. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  21. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. hand — help
  3. season — in sport
  4. chip — in a computer
  5. file — a line of people
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. season — of the year
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. file — a document
  10. file — a tool
  11. bark — to shout
  12. chip — for betting
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. club — for dancing
  15. lean — to bend
  16. chip — to eat
  17. bat — the animal
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. club — for golf
  20. lean — to rest against
  21. lean — thin
  22. hand — in cards
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. club — a group

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