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

  1. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  2. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — a practice
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. bark — to shout
  5. march — the month
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. spring — the season
  8. ground — the earth
  9. march — the month
  10. file — a tool
  11. ground — a position
  12. drill — army training
  13. foot — part of the body
  14. march — music
  15. file — a line of people
  16. spring — of water
  17. spring — a coil
  18. file — a document
  19. ground — crushed
  20. foot — a measure
  21. rash — hasty
  22. rash — a series
  23. foot — the bottom
  24. drill — the 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