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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. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. That was ________________ to happen.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. mine — for digging
  3. bound — certain
  4. row — to paddle
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. bound — tied together
  8. drill — the tool
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. rule — a law
  11. shower — to wash
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. bound — obliged
  14. drill — a practice
  15. calf — of the leg
  16. bark — to shout
  17. drill — army training
  18. rule — to rule out
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. row — a line
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. rule — government
  23. shower — rain
  24. calf — a young animal

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