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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. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. present — a gift
  3. band — a ring
  4. ball — a dance
  5. foot — a measure
  6. ground — a position
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. march — music
  9. ball — a great time
  10. file — a tool
  11. present — there
  12. march — the month
  13. present — the time now
  14. ground — the earth
  15. file — a document
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. ground — crushed
  18. foot — the bottom
  19. march — the month
  20. band — a music group
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. foot — part of the body
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. file — a line of people

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