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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 124 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's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. deal — an agreement
  3. band — a music group
  4. field — for sport
  5. shower — rain
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. file — a document
  9. deal — a big deal
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. net — after costs
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. field — a subject
  14. bark — to shout
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. field — farmland
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. file — a tool
  19. net — in sport
  20. file — a line of people
  21. shower — to wash
  22. deal — to handle
  23. band — a ring
  24. net — for catching

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