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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. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. Have you met the new head ________________?
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. file — a tool
  3. march — music
  4. file — a document
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. bark — to shout
  7. current — electric
  8. tear — from crying
  9. current — happening now
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. hide — animal skin
  15. march — the month
  16. march — the month
  17. tear — from crying
  18. current — of water
  19. tear — to rip
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. tube — a container
  22. tube — the underground
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. file — a line of people

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