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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 116 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. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. How do you ________________ your surname?
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. spell — magic
  3. file — a document
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. bear — the animal
  6. spell — a short time
  7. file — a tool
  8. file — a line of people
  9. bear — the animal
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. bark — to shout
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. sharp — clever
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. bear — to put up with
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. game — wild animals
  20. wax — to grow
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. spell — letters
  23. game — a match
  24. chair — a leader

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