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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. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  2. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. This piece is in a major ________________.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. leaves — to go away
  3. snap — to click
  4. leaves — of a tree
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. mine — for digging
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. leaves — lets stay
  12. file — a document
  13. key — in music
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. cold — an illness
  16. bark — to shout
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. file — a tool
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. cold — not warm
  21. key — for a lock
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. key — the most important part
  24. cold — the Cold War

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