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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. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  14. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  17. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  18. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  19. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  20. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  24. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. shower — to wash
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. chip — to eat
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. cold — not warm
  10. ruler — for measuring
  11. shower — rain
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. ruler — a monarch
  14. chip — for betting
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. craft — a skill
  18. ruler — for measuring
  19. craft — a handicraft
  20. chip — in a computer
  21. cold — an illness
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. craft — boats
  24. coach — pulled by horses

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