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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: chair · fall · deal · rule · content · bark

  1. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  3. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  4. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. deal — an agreement
  3. deal — a big deal
  4. rule — a law
  5. fall — to drop
  6. deal — to handle
  7. content — happy
  8. rule — government
  9. fall — the season
  10. bark — to shout
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. content — the amount
  15. fall — to drop
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. rule — to rule out

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