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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 116 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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: wind · bark · stand · rash · pitcher · key · sharp · row

  1. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  2. I can't ________________ this cold.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  16. This piece is in a major ________________.
  17. Don't do anything ________________.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — on the skin
  2. stand — to bear
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. row — a line
  5. sharp — clever
  6. stand — for spectators
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. key — for a lock
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. row — to paddle
  15. stand — on your feet
  16. key — in music
  17. rash — hasty
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. key — the most important part
  20. wind — moving air
  21. rash — a series
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. wind — moving air
  24. bark — to shout

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