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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 124 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. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  24. The ________________ took off on time.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. plane — a tool
  4. march — the month
  5. branch — of a tree
  6. bark — to shout
  7. game — wild animals
  8. rule — a law
  9. march — the month
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. plane — in geometry
  14. march — music
  15. file — a tool
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. branch — a division
  18. spell — magic
  19. game — a match
  20. file — a line of people
  21. file — a document
  22. spell — a short time
  23. rule — government
  24. plane — an aircraft

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