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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. I can't ________________ this cold.
  2. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  9. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  10. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. That must've been a ________________.
  17. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  20. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — to bear
  2. toast — the most admired
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. march — music
  5. swing — in golf
  6. swing — to play on
  7. march — the month
  8. rush — to hurry
  9. toast — bread
  10. stand — on your feet
  11. swing — music
  12. hand — in cards
  13. file — a tool
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. file — a document
  16. rush — a thrill
  17. rush — hurry
  18. march — the month
  19. toast — a drink to someone
  20. stand — for spectators
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. hand — help
  23. file — a line of people
  24. bark — to shout

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