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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. That must've been a ________________.
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  22. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  23. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — a thrill
  2. rush — hurry
  3. march — music
  4. bark — to shout
  5. dip — to dunk
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. game — a match
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. stem — a stem cell
  11. game — wild animals
  12. kick — in football
  13. march — the month
  14. dip — to sink
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. dip — a sauce
  18. stem — to come from
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. march — the month
  21. rush — to hurry
  22. patient — calm and waiting
  23. kick — a thrill
  24. stem — of a plant

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