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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 refilled his coffee ________________.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  11. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  14. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. Where did you ________________ them?
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  21. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — a cup
  2. land — to come down
  3. file — a tool
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. land — a country
  6. file — a document
  7. row — a line
  8. file — a line of people
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. present — the time now
  11. chip — to eat
  12. bat — the animal
  13. mug — a face
  14. chip — for betting
  15. land — ground
  16. mug — to rob
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. chip — in a computer
  19. bark — to shout
  20. present — there
  21. present — a gift
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. row — to paddle
  24. bat — for baseball

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