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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. race — a contest
  3. file — a tool
  4. hide — animal skin
  5. file — a line of people
  6. last — final
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. race — the arms race
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. race — humankind
  12. shower — to wash
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. last — to go on
  16. hand — help
  17. snap — to click
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. file — a document
  21. bark — to shout
  22. shower — rain
  23. hand — in cards
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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