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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. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. bark — to shout
  3. march — music
  4. wind — moving air
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. file — a document
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. wind — moving air
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. file — a line of people
  11. content — the amount
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. file — a tool
  16. content — happy
  17. pound — to hit hard
  18. pound — a weight
  19. pound — for dogs
  20. march — the month
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. march — the month
  24. row — to paddle

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