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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: rule · race · face · pound · cold · bark · can · chair

  1. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  10. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  21. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  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 — to shout
  2. can — to be able to
  3. cold — not warm
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. face — to point toward
  6. pound — to hit hard
  7. race — a contest
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. rule — a law
  10. can — a tin
  11. cold — an illness
  12. rule — government
  13. race — humankind
  14. face — to confront
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. race — the arms race
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. chair — a leader
  20. rule — to rule out
  21. can — a tin
  22. face — part of the head
  23. pound — a weight
  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