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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: rock · drill · object · ground · bark · dip · spring · craft

  1. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  8. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  11. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  12. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  13. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  14. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  19. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. ground — crushed
  3. object — a thing
  4. ground — a position
  5. bark — to shout
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. craft — a handicraft
  8. craft — boats
  9. spring — the season
  10. craft — a skill
  11. dip — a sauce
  12. object — to protest
  13. object — an aim
  14. rock — a stone
  15. drill — the tool
  16. spring — of water
  17. drill — army training
  18. rock — to move gently
  19. dip — to sink
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. ground — the earth
  22. spring — a coil
  23. dip — to dunk
  24. drill — a practice

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