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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. That must've been a ________________.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. chest — of your body
  6. court — for sport
  7. rash — hasty
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. march — the month
  10. chest — a box
  11. pound — a weight
  12. rash — a series
  13. race — a contest
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. rush — a thrill
  16. race — humankind
  17. race — the arms race
  18. pound — to hit hard
  19. court — of law
  20. court — of a king
  21. march — music
  22. chest — of your body
  23. march — the month
  24. bark — to shout

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