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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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468
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 · bound · rash · spring · lash · rest · face · degree

  1. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. That was ________________ to happen.
  8. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  9. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. lash — to lash out
  4. rest — a break
  5. bound — obliged
  6. degree — from a university
  7. bound — certain
  8. bound — tied together
  9. lash — a whip stroke
  10. degree — an amount
  11. rash — a series
  12. lash — an eyelash
  13. rash — hasty
  14. degree — temperature
  15. spring — of water
  16. rest — what's left
  17. spring — a coil
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. rest — what's left
  20. bark — to shout
  21. spring — the season
  22. face — to point toward
  23. face — part of the head
  24. bark — of a tree

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