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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. He works in a ________________ mill.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. Where did you ________________ them?
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  14. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. She's very handy with a ________________.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. file — a tool
  3. mark — a grade
  4. bark — to shout
  5. file — a document
  6. mug — a face
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. mug — to rob
  10. race — the arms race
  11. race — a contest
  12. race — humankind
  13. mark — to pay attention
  14. mug — a cup
  15. cold — an illness
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. cold — not warm
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. wind — moving air
  20. file — a line of people
  21. saw — the tool
  22. wind — moving air
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. mark — a trace

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