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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. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  6. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  19. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  20. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. object — a thing
  4. bark — to shout
  5. rest — a break
  6. object — to protest
  7. row — a line
  8. ground — the earth
  9. ground — crushed
  10. rule — to rule out
  11. ground — a position
  12. spell — a short time
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. row — to paddle
  16. file — a tool
  17. spell — letters
  18. rule — a law
  19. rest — what's left
  20. object — an aim
  21. file — a line of people
  22. file — a document
  23. spell — magic
  24. rest — what's left

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