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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  8. That must've been a ________________.
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  14. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  15. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  16. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  19. Have you found your soul ________________?
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. We're almost out of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. pop — to visit
  3. rest — a break
  4. drill — army training
  5. current — of water
  6. drill — a practice
  7. rush — to hurry
  8. rush — a thrill
  9. pop — music
  10. drill — the tool
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. current — electric
  14. current — happening now
  15. mate — to breed
  16. rest — what's left
  17. mate — a friend
  18. rest — what's left
  19. mate — a partner
  20. degree — an amount
  21. degree — from a university
  22. degree — temperature
  23. bark — to shout
  24. pop — soda

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