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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. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  2. Have you settled on a ________________?
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  7. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  14. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  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. stick — a piece of wood
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. squash — the sport
  4. mark — a trace
  5. file — a line of people
  6. bass — the fish
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. stick — to attach or keep to
  10. file — a tool
  11. mark — to pay attention
  12. squash — to crush
  13. bass — low music
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. bat — the animal
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. mark — a grade
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. date — the fruit
  22. bark — to shout
  23. squash — the vegetable
  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