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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: net · bark · file · fall · ball · chest · swing · land

  1. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. The King held a masked ________________.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  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. fall — to drop
  2. bark — to shout
  3. net — for catching
  4. land — to come down
  5. land — ground
  6. chest — of your body
  7. ball — a round shape
  8. swing — to play on
  9. swing — in golf
  10. ball — a great time
  11. file — a document
  12. net — after costs
  13. fall — the season
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. land — a country
  16. fall — to drop
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. chest — a box
  19. ball — a dance
  20. net — in sport
  21. file — a line of people
  22. chest — of your body
  23. swing — music
  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