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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  15. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. bank — for money
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. bark — to shout
  6. bank — of a river
  7. file — a tool
  8. cell — a phone
  9. mine — for digging
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. mark — to pay attention
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. mark — a grade
  15. mark — a trace
  16. cell — in biology
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. saw — the tool
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. bank — for money
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. saw — the tool
  23. file — a document
  24. file — a line of people

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