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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. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  8. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  20. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  21. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  22. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — a law
  2. wound — an injury
  3. rock — to move gently
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. bark — to shout
  6. net — in sport
  7. rock — music
  8. rock — a stone
  9. net — after costs
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. court — of a king
  12. net — for catching
  13. wound — an injury
  14. court — for sport
  15. drill — the tool
  16. drill — army training
  17. drill — a practice
  18. court — of law
  19. root — of a plant
  20. root — of a word
  21. rule — to rule out
  22. rule — government
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. root — the cause

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