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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 polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  22. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. mine — for digging
  3. file — a tool
  4. cap — a lid
  5. cap — a hat
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. file — a document
  8. leaves — to go away
  9. prune — to trim
  10. chip — to eat
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. chip — in a computer
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. prune — to trim
  15. bark — to shout
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. leaves — of a tree
  19. file — a line of people
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. leaves — lets stay
  22. chip — for betting
  23. scale — size or range
  24. scale — in music

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