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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. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. squash — the sport
  3. band — a ring
  4. squash — to crush
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. file — a line of people
  7. object — an aim
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. dip — to sink
  10. band — a music group
  11. field — farmland
  12. dip — to dunk
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. dip — a sauce
  15. field — for sport
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. file — a document
  19. object — a thing
  20. field — a subject
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. bark — to shout
  24. object — to protest

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