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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. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  8. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. ruler — a monarch
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. drill — army training
  5. game — wild animals
  6. wake — a trail
  7. lean — thin
  8. lean — to bend
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. lean — to rest against
  11. drill — the tool
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. drill — a practice
  14. game — a match
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. rash — hasty
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. rash — a series
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. ruler — for measuring
  21. sharp — clever
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. bark — to shout
  24. ruler — for measuring

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