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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. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  11. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  12. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  19. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. cue — a hint
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. file — a document
  5. trunk — of a tree
  6. fall — to drop
  7. march — the month
  8. fall — the season
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. cue — for pool
  11. cue — a signal
  12. current — of water
  13. cold — an illness
  14. bark — to shout
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. current — electric
  19. current — happening now
  20. fall — to drop
  21. file — a line of people
  22. march — the month
  23. march — music
  24. cold — not warm

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