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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. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  9. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  12. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  20. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  21. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  22. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  23. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. file — a document
  3. last — finally
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. leaves — lets stay
  6. file — a line of people
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. season — of the year
  9. fine — all right
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. fine — a penalty
  13. file — a tool
  14. season — in sport
  15. patient — calm and waiting
  16. last — final
  17. last — to go on
  18. bark — to shout
  19. leaves — of a tree
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. leaves — to go away
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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