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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: land · roll · bark · shower · rush · scale · mark · content

  1. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. We're on a ________________ here.
  8. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  22. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. That must've been a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. mark — a grade
  4. land — to come down
  5. roll — a list
  6. shower — rain
  7. roll — on a roll
  8. roll — a cake
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. content — the amount
  11. bark — to shout
  12. scale — in music
  13. scale — size or range
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. content — happy
  17. mark — a trace
  18. land — ground
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. land — a country
  21. rush — to hurry
  22. mark — to pay attention
  23. shower — to wash
  24. rush — a thrill

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