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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 116 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. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  20. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  21. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  22. Don't do anything ________________.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. spring — the season
  3. leaves — to go away
  4. scale — size or range
  5. squash — to crush
  6. bark — to shout
  7. spring — a coil
  8. game — wild animals
  9. rash — a series
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. row — to paddle
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. row — a line
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. scale — in music
  17. game — a match
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. leaves — lets stay
  20. leaves — of a tree
  21. squash — the sport
  22. rash — hasty
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. spring — of water

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