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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. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  9. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  10. That must've been a ________________.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  21. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  22. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  23. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. staff — employees
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. band — a ring
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. rush — to hurry
  9. staff — employees
  10. rush — a thrill
  11. band — a music group
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. bark — to shout
  14. content — the amount
  15. rock — a stone
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. content — happy
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. rush — hurry
  21. rock — to move gently
  22. rock — music
  23. staff — a stick
  24. rash — a series

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