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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. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. swing — music
  4. trunk — of a tree
  5. march — music
  6. tear — from crying
  7. race — humankind
  8. march — the month
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. bark — to shout
  11. tear — from crying
  12. march — the month
  13. file — a document
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. tear — to rip
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. race — the arms race
  18. race — a contest
  19. swing — in golf
  20. file — a line of people
  21. hand — help
  22. hand — in cards
  23. file — a tool
  24. swing — to play on

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