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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. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  12. The ________________ took off on time.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  18. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  24. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — on the skin
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. rule — a law
  4. hand — help
  5. dip — to dunk
  6. rash — hasty
  7. dip — to sink
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. bark — to shout
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. plane — an aircraft
  13. race — humankind
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. rule — government
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. dip — a sauce
  18. rash — a series
  19. race — a contest
  20. plane — a tool
  21. hand — in cards
  22. race — the arms race
  23. plane — in geometry
  24. patient — a sick person

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