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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. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. This piece is in a major ________________.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. drill — the tool
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. last — final
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. drill — a practice
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. content — the amount
  10. key — the most important part
  11. last — finally
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. file — a tool
  14. bark — to shout
  15. file — a line of people
  16. wake — a trail
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. drill — army training
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. key — for a lock
  21. file — a document
  22. key — in music
  23. last — to go on
  24. content — happy

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