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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: rule · roll · plane · hand · pop · spring · bark · squash

  1. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. We're on a ________________ here.
  8. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  13. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  22. You don't need to ________________ round.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. The ________________ took off on time.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. squash — to crush
  3. hand — help
  4. roll — a list
  5. hand — in cards
  6. pop — music
  7. roll — on a roll
  8. rule — to rule out
  9. pop — soda
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. plane — in geometry
  13. rule — government
  14. spring — of water
  15. spring — a coil
  16. rule — a law
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. spring — the season
  19. roll — a cake
  20. squash — the sport
  21. plane — a tool
  22. pop — to visit
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. plane — an aircraft

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