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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. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  7. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. You can't go backstage without a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. file — a tool
  3. sharp — clever
  4. chest — of your body
  5. bark — to shout
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. stick — to attach or keep to
  8. stem — to come from
  9. chest — a box
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. pass — to succeed
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. branch — a division
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. file — a document
  22. pass — to spend time
  23. chest — of your body
  24. pass — a permit

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