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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 124 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. There's no middle ________________.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  17. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. ground — a position
  3. snap — to click
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. rule — a law
  7. ground — crushed
  8. bark — to shout
  9. current — happening now
  10. drill — a practice
  11. rule — government
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. ground — the earth
  16. current — electric
  17. current — of water
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. drill — army training
  20. cold — an illness
  21. cold — not warm
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. rule — to rule out
  24. drill — the tool

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