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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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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: rest · suit · perch · tear · bark · rash · cold · court

  1. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  3. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  4. When will it ________________ you to start?
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  10. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. I seem to be developing a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. suit — in cards
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. suit — to fit
  5. perch — the fish
  6. rest — what's left
  7. rash — hasty
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. rest — a break
  10. rest — what's left
  11. tear — from crying
  12. cold — not warm
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. suit — clothes
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. court — for sport
  17. rash — a series
  18. tear — to rip
  19. cold — an illness
  20. bark — to shout
  21. court — of law
  22. tear — from crying
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. rash — on the skin

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