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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 120 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 ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. She's very handy with a ________________.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — a sauce
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. band — a ring
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. kid — to tease
  6. file — a document
  7. perch — the fish
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. dip — to sink
  10. saw — the tool
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. band — a music group
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. file — a tool
  17. dip — to dunk
  18. bark — to shout
  19. wound — an injury
  20. wound — an injury
  21. saw — the tool
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. file — a line of people
  24. kid — child

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