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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. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. The ________________ went through the wall.
  7. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  13. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. spell — letters
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. mark — a grade
  8. content — the amount
  9. cold — an illness
  10. cell — a phone
  11. spell — a short time
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. nail — on a finger
  14. spell — magic
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. cell — in biology
  17. mark — to pay attention
  18. wound — an injury
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. cold — not warm
  21. content — happy
  22. bark — to shout
  23. mark — a trace
  24. wound — an injury

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