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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 like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — bread
  2. bark — to shout
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. patient — calm and waiting
  5. spring — of water
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. spring — the season
  10. spell — magic
  11. toast — a drink to someone
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. toast — the most admired
  14. rash — hasty
  15. track — a song
  16. spell — letters
  17. spring — a coil
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. branch — a division
  20. spell — a short time
  21. track — a path
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. track — to keep track
  24. rash — a series

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