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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. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a lid
  2. file — a tool
  3. last — finally
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. cap — of ice
  7. file — a line of people
  8. mine — for digging
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. last — to go on
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. bark — to shout
  14. file — a document
  15. game — wild animals
  16. game — a match
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. cap — a hat
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. branch — a division
  23. last — final
  24. mine — belonging to me

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