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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. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. The tickets are free of ________________.
  15. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  16. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  17. Where did you ________________ them?
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. charge — in control
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. file — a document
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. row — to paddle
  8. row — a line
  9. mug — a face
  10. cold — an illness
  11. spring — of water
  12. cold — not warm
  13. file — a line of people
  14. charge — a price
  15. mug — a cup
  16. charge — electricity
  17. mug — to rob
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. bark — to shout
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. spring — the season
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. coach — pulled by horses
  24. spring — a coil

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