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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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  5. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  21. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  22. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. chair — a leader
  3. file — a line of people
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. file — a tool
  9. wind — moving air
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. file — a document
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. wind — moving air
  14. rash — a series
  15. object — to protest
  16. rash — hasty
  17. bark — to shout
  18. mine — for digging
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. object — an aim
  21. hide — animal skin
  22. object — a thing
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. wind — to turn a key

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