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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. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  6. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  11. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  12. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  20. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. spell — magic
  3. field — a subject
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. vault — in gymnastics
  6. club — for golf
  7. file — a tool
  8. vault — an arched ceiling
  9. bark — to shout
  10. board — to get on
  11. club — for dancing
  12. board — a committee
  13. spell — letters
  14. field — for sport
  15. file — a document
  16. spell — a short time
  17. board — a flat piece
  18. field — farmland
  19. vault — a safe
  20. club — a group
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. file — a line of people
  23. wind — moving air
  24. wind — moving air

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