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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: arm · rash · game · tear · fall · cold · bark · craft

  1. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. My father caught me by the ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  8. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  21. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. fall — the season
  3. game — wild animals
  4. rash — hasty
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. cold — an illness
  7. craft — boats
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. rash — a series
  10. craft — a skill
  11. fall — to drop
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. bark — to shout
  15. tear — from crying
  16. fall — to drop
  17. cold — not warm
  18. tear — to rip
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. arm — a part of something
  21. craft — a handicraft
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. tear — from crying
  24. game — a match

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