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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. That must've been a ________________.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. We're on a ________________ here.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — a thrill
  2. file — a tool
  3. march — the month
  4. stem — to come from
  5. march — the month
  6. ground — a position
  7. clip — for paper
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. roll — a list
  10. ground — crushed
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. clip — a video
  13. file — a document
  14. roll — a cake
  15. clip — to cut
  16. ground — the earth
  17. rush — hurry
  18. file — a line of people
  19. rush — to hurry
  20. march — music
  21. roll — on a roll
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. bark — to shout
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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