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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 116 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. Have you found your soul ________________?
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. row — to paddle
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. row — a line
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. cold — not warm
  7. mate — to breed
  8. shower — to wash
  9. cold — an illness
  10. shower — rain
  11. bark — to shout
  12. mate — a partner
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. wake — a trail
  17. mate — a friend
  18. wake — before a funeral

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