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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: pop · sharp · rash · bulb · march · cold · bark · nail

  1. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. The ________________ went through the wall.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. We're almost out of ________________.
  14. The light ________________ burned out.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. I've got to change the light ________________.
  18. You don't need to ________________ round.
  19. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. bulb — of a plant
  3. cold — an illness
  4. pop — music
  5. rash — hasty
  6. cold — not warm
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. march — the month
  13. pop — soda
  14. bulb — for light
  15. sharp — clever
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. bulb — for light
  18. pop — to visit
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. march — the month
  21. bark — to shout
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. rash — a series
  24. nail — on a finger

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