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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: toast · bore · kick · rule · cold · bark

  1. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  2. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  6. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  7. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  8. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  9. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  10. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — a drink to someone
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. bark — to shout
  5. rule — to rule out
  6. toast — bread
  7. bore — to drill
  8. bore — gave birth
  9. kick — in football
  10. bore — to tire
  11. cold — not warm
  12. cold — an illness
  13. rule — a law
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. rule — government
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. toast — the most admired

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