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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. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. mate — a friend
  4. cap — of ice
  5. current — of water
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. current — electric
  10. spell — letters
  11. file — a tool
  12. mate — to breed
  13. content — happy
  14. cap — a hat
  15. cap — a lid
  16. spell — magic
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. bark — to shout
  19. current — happening now
  20. file — a line of people
  21. spell — a short time
  22. content — the amount
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. file — a document

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