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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 120 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. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. Don't do anything ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — in music
  2. bark — to shout
  3. tear — to rip
  4. mate — a partner
  5. tear — from crying
  6. spring — the season
  7. spring — of water
  8. race — the arms race
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. rash — a series
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. mate — to breed
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. kid — to tease
  16. mate — a friend
  17. kid — child
  18. race — humankind
  19. race — a contest
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. tear — from crying
  22. spring — a coil
  23. scale — size or range
  24. rash — hasty

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