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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: file · ground · spring · jam · bass · tear · bark · last

  1. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. Tom got himself in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. last — to go on
  3. file — a tool
  4. ground — crushed
  5. spring — a coil
  6. tear — from crying
  7. jam — in traffic
  8. ground — a position
  9. bass — low music
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. file — a document
  12. last — final
  13. tear — to rip
  14. file — a line of people
  15. tear — from crying
  16. ground — the earth
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. jam — to spread on bread
  19. spring — of water
  20. last — finally
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. spring — the season
  23. bass — the fish
  24. jam — a tight spot

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