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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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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: cabinet · bark · clip · file · last · wound · firm · field

  1. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  10. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  11. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. What do you think of the new ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. file — a document
  3. clip — for paper
  4. file — a line of people
  5. wound — an injury
  6. firm — a company
  7. last — to go on
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. cabinet — a cupboard
  10. firm — steady
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. file — a tool
  13. last — final
  14. field — for sport
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. field — a subject
  17. bark — to shout
  18. firm — decided
  19. wound — an injury
  20. clip — a video
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. field — farmland
  23. clip — to cut
  24. cabinet — ministers

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