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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 120 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 people resisted their cruel ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.

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

Answer key

  1. ruler — a monarch
  2. cold — an illness
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. mark — to pay attention
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. ruler — for measuring
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. swing — in golf
  9. mark — a trace
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. swing — music
  12. coach — pulled by horses
  13. last — final
  14. swing — to play on
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. last — finally
  17. last — to go on
  18. mark — a grade
  19. cold — not warm
  20. prune — to trim
  21. bark — to shout
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. prune — to trim
  24. ruler — for measuring

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