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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: arm · wound · row · stand · bark · rule · spell · key

  1. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  5. I can't ________________ this cold.
  6. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  12. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  15. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. My father caught me by the ________________.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. This piece is in a major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. key — the most important part
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. rule — a law
  5. stand — to bear
  6. key — for a lock
  7. bark — to shout
  8. spell — letters
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. stand — on your feet
  12. stand — for spectators
  13. row — a line
  14. arm — a part of something
  15. rule — to rule out
  16. wound — an injury
  17. spell — magic
  18. rule — government
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. row — to paddle
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. spell — a short time
  24. key — in music

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