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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. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  4. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  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. patient — calm and waiting
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. ruler — for measuring
  4. squash — the vegetable
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. race — humankind
  7. race — a contest
  8. file — a line of people
  9. ruler — for measuring
  10. race — the arms race
  11. bark — to shout
  12. cold — not warm
  13. file — a tool
  14. cold — an illness
  15. stock — shares
  16. squash — to crush
  17. squash — the sport
  18. file — a document
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. stock — goods
  22. ruler — a monarch
  23. bark — of a tree
  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