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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.

Make a worksheet

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: march · bowl · mine · file · bark · rash · spring · pit

  1. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  18. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. bark — to shout
  3. bowl — a football final
  4. mine — for digging
  5. spring — a coil
  6. rash — a series
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. pit — in a race
  9. spring — the season
  10. march — the month
  11. file — a tool
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. rash — hasty
  15. pit — a hole
  16. march — the month
  17. bowl — to roll
  18. bowl — a dish
  19. file — a line of people
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. march — music
  22. pit — a fruit stone
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. file — a document

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