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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 · spring · snap · date · file · bark · wound · rule

  1. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. Have you settled on a ________________?
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  23. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. file — a tool
  4. bass — low music
  5. rule — a law
  6. spring — of water
  7. file — a line of people
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. wound — an injury
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. wound — an injury
  12. file — a document
  13. snap — to click
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. spring — a coil
  17. bark — to shout
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. bass — the fish
  20. date — the fruit
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. rule — government
  23. rule — to rule out
  24. spring — the season

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