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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. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  17. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  22. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. fine — a penalty
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. file — a document
  6. last — to go on
  7. cold — not warm
  8. cue — a hint
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. cold — an illness
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. fine — all right
  13. last — final
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. cue — a signal
  18. file — a line of people
  19. file — a tool
  20. last — finally
  21. fine — high quality
  22. cue — for pool
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. straw — a straw man

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