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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. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. rash — hasty
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. root — the cause
  7. file — a document
  8. band — a ring
  9. file — a tool
  10. band — a music group
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. stock — goods
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. rash — a series
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. root — of a plant
  18. capital — a city
  19. bark — to shout
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. stock — shares
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. capital — money
  24. root — of a word

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