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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 rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  3. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  13. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. Did you ________________ the meat?
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. wave — a sudden rise
  3. root — of a word
  4. chest — of your body
  5. file — a document
  6. last — finally
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. season — in sport
  9. root — of a plant
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. wave — with your hand
  13. root — the cause
  14. last — final
  15. bark — to shout
  16. season — of the year
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. wave — of the sea
  19. chest — of your body
  20. season — to add flavour
  21. chest — a box
  22. file — a line of people
  23. trunk — of a car
  24. last — to go on

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