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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: ground · last · rock · file · bark · bat · mouse · content

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  3. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  4. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  18. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. rock — to move gently
  3. rock — music
  4. mouse — the animal
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. ground — the earth
  7. mouse — for a computer
  8. content — the amount
  9. ground — crushed
  10. ground — a position
  11. last — final
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. bark — to shout
  14. file — a line of people
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. content — happy
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. rock — a stone
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. last — finally
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. file — a tool
  23. file — a document
  24. last — to go on

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