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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. There's no middle ________________.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  18. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. ground — crushed
  5. face — part of the head
  6. ground — the earth
  7. wind — moving air
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. cold — an illness
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. bear — the animal
  14. branch — a division
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. face — to confront
  17. bear — to put up with
  18. bear — the animal
  19. cold — not warm
  20. wake — a trail
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. face — to point toward
  23. wind — moving air
  24. bark — to shout

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