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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 120 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 had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  5. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  12. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. file — a document
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. lie — an untruth
  6. kid — to tease
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. dip — to sink
  9. file — a line of people
  10. ground — crushed
  11. mark — a grade
  12. mark — to pay attention
  13. band — a ring
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. dip — to dunk
  16. file — a tool
  17. mark — a trace
  18. dip — a sauce
  19. ground — the earth
  20. ground — a position
  21. bark — to shout
  22. lie — to recline
  23. band — a music group
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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