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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. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. calf — of the leg
  3. bark — to shout
  4. cold — not warm
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. tube — a container
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. file — a document
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. tube — the underground
  11. cold — an illness
  12. file — a line of people
  13. present — the time now
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. scale — in music
  18. scale — size or range
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. face — part of the head
  21. face — to point toward
  22. present — there
  23. file — a tool
  24. face — to confront

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