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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 116 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. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. march — the month
  5. court — of a king
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. cap — a hat
  8. file — a document
  9. file — a tool
  10. sharp — clever
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. bark — to shout
  13. mouse — the animal
  14. cap — a lid
  15. march — music
  16. band — a ring
  17. march — the month
  18. mouse — for a computer
  19. court — of law
  20. court — for sport
  21. cap — of ice
  22. band — a music group
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. bark — of a tree

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