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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. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  8. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  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. bark — of a tree
  2. file — a document
  3. file — a line of people
  4. clip — a video
  5. wind — moving air
  6. face — part of the head
  7. bank — for money
  8. bank — for money
  9. mine — for digging
  10. row — to paddle
  11. file — a tool
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. clip — to cut
  15. clip — for paper
  16. bank — of a river
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. face — to confront
  19. wind — moving air
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. row — a line
  22. face — to point toward
  23. bark — to shout
  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