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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 120 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: chair · file · patient · dip · track · bark · sharp · spring

  1. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  2. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  13. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  24. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. track — to keep track
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. file — a tool
  5. dip — to sink
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. dip — to dunk
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. sharp — clever
  10. file — a line of people
  11. spring — the season
  12. dip — a sauce
  13. track — a song
  14. bark — to shout
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. track — a path
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. spring — a coil
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. file — a document
  21. spring — of water
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. chair — a professorship
  24. chair — a leader

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