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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. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  12. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. How do you ________________ your surname?
  23. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a football final
  2. file — a line of people
  3. file — a tool
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. file — a document
  6. swing — to play on
  7. spell — magic
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. pass — to succeed
  10. spell — a short time
  11. bowl — a dish
  12. bowl — to roll
  13. bark — to shout
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. swing — music
  16. mine — for digging
  17. race — a contest
  18. race — the arms race
  19. race — humankind
  20. pass — a permit
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. spell — letters
  23. pass — to spend time
  24. swing — in golf

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