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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. That was ________________ to happen.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. Where did you ________________ them?
  20. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. bark — to shout
  3. bat — the animal
  4. bound — tied together
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. pop — soda
  7. mug — a face
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. bound — obliged
  12. pop — music
  13. fall — to drop
  14. bound — certain
  15. fall — the season
  16. file — a document
  17. season — in sport
  18. fall — to drop
  19. mug — to rob
  20. season — of the year
  21. pop — to visit
  22. file — a line of people
  23. mug — a cup
  24. file — a tool

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