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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 need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  2. Have you settled on a ________________?
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  9. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  10. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. hand — in cards
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. last — final
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. pound — for dogs
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. hand — help
  13. drill — a practice
  14. rash — a series
  15. rash — hasty
  16. lie — to recline
  17. last — to go on
  18. last — finally
  19. drill — army training
  20. pound — a weight
  21. bark — to shout
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. date — the fruit

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