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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: bark · ruler · key · cold · field · nail · march · hide

  1. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  2. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  6. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  7. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  8. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  9. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. This piece is in a major ________________.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. The ________________ went through the wall.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Hard work is the ________________ to success.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. ruler — a monarch
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. march — music
  5. ruler — for measuring
  6. hide — animal skin
  7. ruler — for measuring
  8. key — for a lock
  9. nail — on a finger
  10. cold — not warm
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. key — in music
  13. bark — to shout
  14. field — for sport
  15. march — the month
  16. cold — an illness
  17. march — the month
  18. field — farmland
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. field — a subject
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. key — the most important part

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