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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. squash — to crush
  3. bark — to shout
  4. rash — hasty
  5. rash — a series
  6. root — of a plant
  7. last — to go on
  8. last — final
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. face — to point toward
  12. cold — not warm
  13. bass — the fish
  14. squash — the sport
  15. face — part of the head
  16. root — of a word
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. face — to confront
  20. root — the cause
  21. bass — low music
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. cold — an illness
  24. bark — of a tree

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