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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. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. bat — the animal
  4. track — a song
  5. toast — a drink to someone
  6. file — a line of people
  7. chest — a box
  8. file — a tool
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. court — for sport
  11. bark — to shout
  12. track — to keep track
  13. wind — moving air
  14. court — of law
  15. chest — of your body
  16. court — of a king
  17. file — a document
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. chest — of your body
  20. toast — bread
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. track — a path
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. toast — the most admired

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