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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. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  4. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. I'll be taking the ________________.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. saw — past of 'see'
  4. patient — calm and waiting
  5. band — a ring
  6. file — a document
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. band — a music group
  10. pit — a fruit stone
  11. bark — to shout
  12. cold — not warm
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. saw — the tool
  15. pit — in a race
  16. file — a line of people
  17. pit — a hole
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. cold — an illness
  20. tube — the underground
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. tube — a container
  24. saw — the tool

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