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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 had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. Did you ________________ the meat?
  6. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  9. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  14. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  15. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. My father caught me by the ________________.
  22. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  23. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. cold — not warm
  3. pound — for dogs
  4. face — to confront
  5. season — to add flavour
  6. arm — a part of something
  7. season — in sport
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. bore — to drill
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. bark — to shout
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. pound — a weight
  14. bore — gave birth
  15. bore — to tire
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. wax — to grow
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. face — part of the head
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. season — of the year
  23. pound — to hit hard
  24. face — to point toward

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