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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. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. file — a line of people
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. bass — low music
  5. squash — the sport
  6. club — for dancing
  7. squash — to crush
  8. rash — hasty
  9. ground — a position
  10. bass — the fish
  11. ground — the earth
  12. bark — to shout
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. rash — a series
  17. file — a tool
  18. ground — crushed
  19. file — a document
  20. bat — the animal
  21. club — for golf
  22. club — a group
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. squash — the vegetable

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