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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 124 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. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. The ________________ went through the wall.
  14. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  15. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  16. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. Did you ________________ the meat?
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. bat — the animal
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. season — of the year
  5. wake — before a funeral
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. cold — not warm
  10. net — for catching
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. net — in sport
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. nail — on a finger
  15. coach — pulled by horses
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. cold — an illness
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. season — in sport
  20. wake — a trail
  21. season — to add flavour
  22. bark — to shout
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. net — after costs

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