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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: mate · saw · date · bark · lash · cold · row · racket

  1. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Have you settled on a ________________?
  7. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  17. Have you found your soul ________________?
  18. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  19. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  20. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  21. She's very handy with a ________________.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. mate — a friend
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. lash — an eyelash
  8. bark — to shout
  9. cold — not warm
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. mate — to breed
  12. row — a line
  13. row — to paddle
  14. date — the fruit
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. lash — a whip stroke
  17. mate — a partner
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. saw — past of 'see'
  20. racket — a loud noise
  21. saw — the tool
  22. saw — the tool
  23. lash — to lash out
  24. cold — an illness

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