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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. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. swing — to play on
  3. land — a country
  4. track — a song
  5. march — the month
  6. file — a tool
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. tube — the underground
  9. swing — music
  10. race — humankind
  11. march — music
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. march — the month
  14. tube — a container
  15. track — a path
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. race — the arms race
  18. bark — to shout
  19. file — a document
  20. land — ground
  21. file — a line of people
  22. track — to keep track
  23. land — to come down
  24. swing — in golf

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