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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 still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  3. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  10. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  11. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  12. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. The ________________ took off on time.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. rash — a series
  3. lean — thin
  4. file — a tool
  5. plane — a tool
  6. file — a document
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. cap — a hat
  9. lean — to bend
  10. lean — to rest against
  11. plane — in geometry
  12. wave — with your hand
  13. rash — hasty
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. bark — to shout
  16. wave — of the sea
  17. cap — a lid
  18. band — a music group
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. cap — of ice
  21. file — a line of people
  22. wave — a sudden rise
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. plane — an aircraft

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