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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: bore · rush · cold · band · spell · foot · bark · row

  1. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  8. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. That must've been a ________________.
  13. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  18. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  19. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. You shouldn't ________________ things.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. cold — an illness
  3. bark — to shout
  4. spell — a short time
  5. cold — not warm
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. foot — the bottom
  8. bore — gave birth
  9. row — a line
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. band — a music group
  12. rush — a thrill
  13. foot — a measure
  14. band — a ring
  15. foot — part of the body
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. bore — to tire
  18. rush — hurry
  19. bore — to drill
  20. row — to paddle
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. spell — magic
  24. rush — to hurry

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