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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 120 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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. I can't ________________ this cold.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. squash — to crush
  6. cold — an illness
  7. squash — the sport
  8. stand — on your feet
  9. band — a ring
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. capital — money
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. saw — the tool
  17. saw — the tool
  18. fork — in a road
  19. stand — to bear
  20. bark — to shout
  21. stand — for spectators
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. capital — a city
  24. band — a music group

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