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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: march · land · calf · current · rush · squash · rule · bark

  1. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. That must've been a ________________.
  9. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  19. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  24. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — a young animal
  2. land — to come down
  3. rush — hurry
  4. current — electric
  5. bark — to shout
  6. land — ground
  7. march — music
  8. rush — a thrill
  9. rush — to hurry
  10. march — the month
  11. current — happening now
  12. squash — the sport
  13. land — a country
  14. march — the month
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. squash — to crush
  17. current — of water
  18. rule — government
  19. calf — of the leg
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. rule — a law
  24. rule — to rule out

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