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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. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  21. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. bank — for money
  2. file — a line of people
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. cold — not warm
  5. cell — a phone
  6. file — a document
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. band — a music group
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. bark — to shout
  11. file — a tool
  12. race — the arms race
  13. cell — in biology
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. cold — an illness
  17. bank — of a river
  18. race — a contest
  19. band — a ring
  20. club — for dancing
  21. club — for golf
  22. race — humankind
  23. bank — for money
  24. club — a group

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