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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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Word bank
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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: rush · land · mark · game · bark · chair

  1. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  3. That must've been a ________________.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. 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. mark — a trace
  3. rush — a thrill
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. land — a country
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. rush — to hurry
  9. chair — a leader
  10. land — ground
  11. mark — a grade
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. mark — to pay attention
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. land — to come down
  16. game — wild animals
  17. game — a match
  18. 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