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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. My mare is ________________ in color.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. bay — a horse colour
  3. hand — help
  4. hand — in cards
  5. kid — child
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. sharp — clever
  8. bay — to keep at bay
  9. lash — to lash out
  10. bark — to shout
  11. row — to paddle
  12. lash — a whip stroke
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. lash — an eyelash
  16. cold — not warm
  17. bay — a part of the sea
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. kid — to tease
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. row — a line

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