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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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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: cold · mate · bark · rule · racket · dip · rash · kid

  1. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  13. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  14. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  21. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  22. Don't do anything ________________.
  23. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  24. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. mate — a partner
  4. cold — not warm
  5. dip — a sauce
  6. mate — a friend
  7. rash — a series
  8. kid — child
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. rule — a law
  13. racket — a loud noise
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. cold — an illness
  17. bark — to shout
  18. rule — government
  19. kid — to tease
  20. rule — to rule out
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. rash — hasty
  23. dip — to dunk
  24. dip — to sink

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