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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 sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. Have you met the new head ________________?
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. mark — a grade
  4. race — humankind
  5. spring — of water
  6. spring — the season
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. mark — to pay attention
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. wind — moving air
  11. file — a document
  12. spring — a coil
  13. wind — moving air
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. bark — to shout
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. race — the arms race
  18. file — a line of people
  19. coach — pulled by horses
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. file — a tool
  23. mark — a trace
  24. race — a contest

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