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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. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  2. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  8. That must've been a ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. Don't do anything ________________.
  21. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. We're on a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — on the skin
  2. saw — past of 'see'
  3. bark — to shout
  4. saw — the tool
  5. spring — a coil
  6. rash — a series
  7. rush — hurry
  8. rush — a thrill
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. wake — a trail
  12. rush — to hurry
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. saw — the tool
  15. roll — a cake
  16. cold — an illness
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. spring — the season
  20. rash — hasty
  21. roll — a list
  22. spring — of water
  23. cold — not warm
  24. roll — on a roll

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