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

  1. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. The ________________ took off on time.
  6. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  7. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  18. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to dunk
  2. bark — to shout
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. cold — not warm
  5. plane — an aircraft
  6. track — a path
  7. track — a song
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. track — to keep track
  11. chair — a leader
  12. cold — an illness
  13. dip — a sauce
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. dip — to sink
  16. present — a gift
  17. vault — a safe
  18. vault — in gymnastics
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. plane — in geometry
  21. present — there
  22. vault — an arched ceiling
  23. present — the time now
  24. plane — a tool

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