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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. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  2. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  6. When will it ________________ you to start?
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  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. suit — in cards
  2. rock — a stone
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. rock — music
  6. suit — to fit
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. wind — moving air
  9. file — a tool
  10. suit — clothes
  11. wind — moving air
  12. stock — goods
  13. bark — to shout
  14. file — a document
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. stock — shares
  17. hand — help
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. band — a music group
  20. band — a ring
  21. hand — in cards
  22. file — a line of people
  23. rock — to move gently
  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