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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: date · race · row · bulb · bark · mark · hide · press

  1. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. Have you settled on a ________________?
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  6. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. The light ________________ burned out.
  9. Did you ________________ the button?
  10. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  21. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  22. I've got to change the light ________________.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. row — a line
  5. hide — animal skin
  6. press — a publisher
  7. date — the fruit
  8. bulb — for light
  9. press — to push
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. race — the arms race
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. bulb — of a plant
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. bark — to shout
  17. race — a contest
  18. mark — a grade
  19. row — to paddle
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. mark — a trace
  22. bulb — for light
  23. press — newspapers
  24. race — humankind

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