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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. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  14. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. I'll be taking the ________________.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. mine — for digging
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. bark — to shout
  5. deal — a big deal
  6. file — a line of people
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. file — a document
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. deal — an agreement
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. deal — to handle
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. ground — a position
  16. tube — a container
  17. capital — a city
  18. capital — money
  19. tube — the underground
  20. ground — the earth
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. lie — to recline
  23. ground — crushed
  24. lie — an untruth

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