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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. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. Have you found your soul ________________?
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. file — a line of people
  3. spell — magic
  4. bark — to shout
  5. chest — of your body
  6. mate — to breed
  7. file — a tool
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. mate — a partner
  10. land — a country
  11. toast — a drink to someone
  12. track — to keep track
  13. track — a path
  14. toast — the most admired
  15. spell — a short time
  16. track — a song
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. file — a document
  19. land — to come down
  20. land — ground
  21. chest — of your body
  22. toast — bread
  23. chest — a box
  24. spell — letters

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