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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. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. When will it ________________ you to start?
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. You don't need to ________________ round.
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. cold — not warm
  4. cold — an illness
  5. bark — to shout
  6. rule — a law
  7. tear — from crying
  8. suit — to fit
  9. row — to paddle
  10. suit — clothes
  11. tear — to rip
  12. suit — in cards
  13. pop — music
  14. rule — government
  15. pop — to visit
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. tear — from crying
  19. row — a line
  20. drill — the tool
  21. drill — a practice
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. drill — army training
  24. cold — the Cold War

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