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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. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  2. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  18. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a document
  2. lean — thin
  3. spell — letters
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. stock — shares
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. snap — to click
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. file — a tool
  12. stock — goods
  13. bark — to shout
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. rash — hasty
  16. spell — magic
  17. lean — to rest against
  18. lean — to bend
  19. spell — a short time
  20. sharp — clever
  21. file — a line of people
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. rash — a series

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