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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. She got the top ________________ in the exam.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. net — for catching
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. net — in sport
  5. kid — to tease
  6. cold — not warm
  7. mark — to pay attention
  8. tube — the underground
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. net — after costs
  12. mark — a trace
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. tube — a container
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. cold — an illness
  18. kid — child
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. bark — to shout
  23. sharp — clever
  24. mark — a grade

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