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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: bark · stand · land · snap · rock · cold · rash · fall

  1. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  14. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  20. I can't ________________ this cold.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. fall — to drop
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. rash — hasty
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. rock — music
  8. cold — not warm
  9. cold — an illness
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. rock — a stone
  12. fall — the season
  13. stand — on your feet
  14. rock — to move gently
  15. land — ground
  16. bark — to shout
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. snap — to click
  19. stand — for spectators
  20. stand — to bear
  21. rash — a series
  22. fall — to drop
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. land — to come down

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