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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: rush · roll · bark · calf · fan · fall · bulb · chest

  1. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  6. We're on a ________________ here.
  7. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  8. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. I've got to change the light ________________.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  15. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  16. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. That must've been a ________________.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  23. The light ________________ burned out.
  24. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. roll — a cake
  4. chest — of your body
  5. bulb — of a plant
  6. roll — on a roll
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. calf — of the leg
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. bulb — for light
  11. chest — of your body
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. chest — a box
  14. rush — to hurry
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. fall — the season
  18. rush — a thrill
  19. fall — to drop
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. bark — to shout
  22. roll — a list
  23. bulb — for light
  24. fall — to drop

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