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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 116 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. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. bark — to shout
  3. tear — from crying
  4. file — a document
  5. tear — to rip
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. pound — for dogs
  8. perch — the fish
  9. race — the arms race
  10. fan — to cool the air
  11. file — a tool
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. rash — a series
  16. rash — hasty
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. pound — a weight
  19. file — a line of people
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. race — a contest
  22. pound — to hit hard
  23. race — humankind
  24. tear — from crying

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