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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: safe · season · bark · bat · toast · wound · straw · file

  1. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  3. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. toast — the most admired
  3. safe — a strongbox
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. season — in sport
  7. file — a line of people
  8. file — a document
  9. safe — out of danger
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. safe — out of danger
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. toast — a drink to someone
  14. bark — to shout
  15. bat — the animal
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. wound — an injury
  19. toast — bread
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. file — a tool
  22. season — of the year
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. straw — dry grass

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