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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. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. file — a line of people
  3. rash — hasty
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. perch — the fish
  6. file — a tool
  7. scale — size or range
  8. wake — a trail
  9. bore — to tire
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. bark — to shout
  12. file — a document
  13. clip — for paper
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. scale — in music
  16. rash — a series
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. clip — a video
  21. bore — to drill
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. bore — gave birth
  24. clip — to cut

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