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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  4. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  5. I've got to change the light ________________.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  9. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  10. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. The light ________________ burned out.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. lean — thin
  4. rest — what's left
  5. bulb — for light
  6. cell — in biology
  7. bark — to shout
  8. rest — a break
  9. lean — to rest against
  10. lean — to bend
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. rest — what's left
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. bulb — of a plant
  15. cell — a phone
  16. bulb — for light
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. cold — an illness

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