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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 120 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: rash · file · straw · wave · racket · rock · bark · cold

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  14. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  15. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  18. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  19. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  24. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. rash — hasty
  3. rash — a series
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. file — a line of people
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. rock — to move gently
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. cold — not warm
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. wave — of the sea
  15. wave — a sudden rise
  16. bark — to shout
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. racket — a loud noise
  19. wave — with your hand
  20. file — a document
  21. file — a tool
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. rock — a stone
  24. rock — 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