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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 ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. wind — moving air
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. land — a country
  9. file — a line of people
  10. land — to come down
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. file — a tool
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. wind — moving air
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. mouse — for a computer
  19. bark — to shout
  20. coach — pulled by horses
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. land — ground
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. file — a document

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