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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. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  3. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. Did you ________________ the meat?
  14. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  19. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  20. Have you met the new head ________________?
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. stick — a piece of wood
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. cold — not warm
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. net — for catching
  7. deal — an agreement
  8. net — after costs
  9. stick — to attach or keep to
  10. hand — help
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. hand — in cards
  13. season — to add flavour
  14. deal — a big deal
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. net — in sport
  18. coach — pulled by horses
  19. deal — to handle
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. bark — to shout
  23. season — in sport
  24. cold — an illness

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