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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: wind · mine · bark · perch · dip · rule · tear · file

  1. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  3. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  11. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. dip — to sink
  3. rule — a law
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. tear — to rip
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. dip — a sauce
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. tear — from crying
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. dip — to dunk
  12. wind — moving air
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. bark — to shout
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. perch — the fish
  19. file — a document
  20. rule — government
  21. tear — from crying
  22. file — a line of people
  23. wind — moving air
  24. file — a tool

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