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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: bark · rule · scale · rash · lie · spell · mine · degree

  1. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  12. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. Don't do anything ________________.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. lie — an untruth
  4. bark — to shout
  5. lie — to recline
  6. spell — letters
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. scale — size or range
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. rule — a law
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. spell — a short time
  14. degree — temperature
  15. scale — in music
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. rule — government
  19. mine — for digging
  20. rash — hasty
  21. rash — a series
  22. degree — from a university
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. degree — an amount

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