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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 124 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 cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a document
  2. tear — from crying
  3. row — a line
  4. pound — a weight
  5. file — a line of people
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. bark — to shout
  9. row — to paddle
  10. ground — the earth
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. tear — from crying
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. sharp — clever
  17. pound — for dogs
  18. ground — a position
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. tear — to rip
  21. ground — crushed
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. chair — a leader
  24. file — a tool

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