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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. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. The tickets are free of ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  16. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.

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

Answer key

  1. can — to be able to
  2. bat — the animal
  3. fine — a penalty
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. charge — a price
  7. cold — an illness
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. file — a document
  10. cold — not warm
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. fine — all right
  13. bark — to shout
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. can — a tin
  16. charge — in control
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. file — a line of people
  19. can — a tin
  20. file — a tool
  21. charge — electricity
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. fine — high quality

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