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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 116 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: shower · staff · fine · spring · ruler · bark · march · track

  1. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  8. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  9. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  10. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  15. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  16. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. staff — employees
  4. shower — to wash
  5. bark — to shout
  6. march — music
  7. staff — employees
  8. fine — high quality
  9. fine — all right
  10. ruler — for measuring
  11. spring — the season
  12. shower — rain
  13. track — a path
  14. track — to keep track
  15. ruler — for measuring
  16. fine — a penalty
  17. track — a song
  18. staff — a stick
  19. spring — a coil
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. ruler — a monarch
  22. march — the month
  23. march — the month
  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