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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. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The ________________ went through the wall.
  22. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. bark — to shout
  5. rash — a series
  6. nail — on a finger
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. stick — to attach or keep to
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. track — a song
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. track — a path
  16. rash — hasty
  17. cold — not warm
  18. wake — a trail
  19. fork — a garden tool
  20. cold — an illness
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. track — to keep track
  23. fork — in a road
  24. stick — a piece of wood

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