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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 pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. last — finally
  4. file — a document
  5. cap — a lid
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. last — to go on
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. fork — in a road
  11. file — a line of people
  12. pound — to hit hard
  13. cap — a hat
  14. bark — to shout
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. file — a tool
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. last — final
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. cap — of ice
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. pound — a weight
  24. game — a match

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