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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. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  15. The King held a masked ________________.
  16. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  17. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. The ________________ took off on time.
  22. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. field — for sport
  3. file — a tool
  4. land — a country
  5. land — ground
  6. ball — a great time
  7. field — a subject
  8. lash — a whip stroke
  9. lash — to lash out
  10. file — a line of people
  11. tube — a container
  12. file — a document
  13. tube — the underground
  14. ball — a round shape
  15. ball — a dance
  16. lash — an eyelash
  17. plane — in geometry
  18. field — farmland
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. land — to come down
  21. plane — an aircraft
  22. plane — a tool
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. bark — to shout

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