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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. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a document
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. file — a tool
  5. can — to be able to
  6. wound — an injury
  7. kick — a thrill
  8. wound — an injury
  9. file — a line of people
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. kick — in football
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. bark — to shout
  16. hide — animal skin
  17. row — a line
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. can — a tin
  20. chair — a leader
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. row — to paddle
  23. can — a tin
  24. row — a quarrel

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