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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. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  3. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  8. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. That was ________________ to happen.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. The ________________ took off on time.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. We are ________________ to obey laws.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. scale — size or range
  3. bound — tied together
  4. shower — to wash
  5. tear — from crying
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. plane — a tool
  8. plane — in geometry
  9. file — a document
  10. hand — in cards
  11. file — a tool
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. hand — help
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. file — a line of people
  16. bound — certain
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. plane — an aircraft
  19. tear — from crying
  20. tear — to rip
  21. shower — rain
  22. scale — in music
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. bound — obliged

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