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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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  7. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. mine — for digging
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. spring — the season
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. board — a committee
  8. file — a tool
  9. spring — a coil
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. tear — to rip
  12. file — a line of people
  13. board — a flat piece
  14. row — to paddle
  15. tear — from crying
  16. hide — animal skin
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. file — a document
  20. tear — from crying
  21. board — to get on
  22. row — a line
  23. spring — of water
  24. bark — to shout

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