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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 120 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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. The ________________ took off on time.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. That was ________________ to happen.
  9. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  10. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  11. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  12. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. What do you think of the new ________________?
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. ground — the earth
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. fall — to drop
  5. plane — an aircraft
  6. ground — a position
  7. bark — to shout
  8. bound — certain
  9. bound — obliged
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. bound — tied together
  12. plane — a tool
  13. ground — crushed
  14. file — a line of people
  15. cabinet — a cupboard
  16. fall — to drop
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. file — a tool
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. hand — in cards
  21. fall — the season
  22. plane — in geometry
  23. file — a document
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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