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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: drill · race · rule · mine · squash · kid · plane · bark

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. The ________________ took off on time.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  21. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  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. kid — child
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. drill — the tool
  4. bark — to shout
  5. mine — for digging
  6. plane — an aircraft
  7. squash — the sport
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. rule — government
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. squash — to crush
  14. plane — a tool
  15. race — the arms race
  16. kid — to tease
  17. race — humankind
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. rule — a law
  21. plane — in geometry
  22. race — a contest
  23. drill — army training
  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