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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: rash · cold · bark · mine · mouse · nail · rule · degree

  1. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  5. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  6. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  9. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  13. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. The ________________ went through the wall.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. Don't do anything ________________.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. rash — a series
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. mouse — for a computer
  5. rule — to rule out
  6. nail — on a finger
  7. cold — an illness
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. rule — a law
  10. mine — for digging
  11. degree — an amount
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. mouse — the animal
  14. bark — to shout
  15. degree — from a university
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. degree — temperature
  20. cold — not warm
  21. rule — government
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. rash — hasty
  24. bark — of a tree

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