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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. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — a law
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. shower — rain
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. file — a document
  7. ground — a position
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. ground — crushed
  12. face — to confront
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. ground — the earth
  15. racket — a loud noise
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. face — part of the head
  18. face — to point toward
  19. file — a tool
  20. rule — government
  21. bark — to shout
  22. file — a line of people
  23. shower — to wash
  24. rule — to rule out

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