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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. Have you met the new head ________________?
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. file — a tool
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. stock — goods
  6. rash — hasty
  7. bark — to shout
  8. spring — a coil
  9. wave — a sudden rise
  10. spring — of water
  11. wave — with your hand
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. file — a line of people
  15. file — a document
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. stock — shares
  18. wave — of the sea
  19. spring — the season
  20. wound — an injury
  21. wound — an injury
  22. coach — pulled by horses
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. rash — a series

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