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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: bass · wind · bark · board · bat · file · mouse · straw

  1. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  6. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a committee
  2. bass — low music
  3. bat — the animal
  4. file — a document
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. board — to get on
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. wind — moving air
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. board — a flat piece
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. file — a tool
  17. bass — the fish
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. bark — to shout
  20. mouse — the animal
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. mouse — for a computer
  23. wind — moving air
  24. file — a line of people

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