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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 116 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: mate · bark · shower · row · cold · wake · plane · pound

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. The ________________ took off on time.
  4. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Have you found your soul ________________?
  23. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  24. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. bark — to shout
  3. plane — an aircraft
  4. pound — to hit hard
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. wake — a trail
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. shower — rain
  9. row — to paddle
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. pound — a weight
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. row — a line
  15. plane — a tool
  16. cold — not warm
  17. shower — to wash
  18. mate — to breed
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. pound — for dogs
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. mate — a partner
  23. mate — a friend
  24. plane — in geometry

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