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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. Did you ________________ the meat?
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. cell — in biology
  3. net — after costs
  4. cell — a phone
  5. march — the month
  6. season — in sport
  7. net — for catching
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. march — music
  10. season — to add flavour
  11. ground — the earth
  12. ground — crushed
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. drill — army training
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. drill — a practice
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. drill — the tool
  19. cold — not warm
  20. march — the month
  21. ground — a position
  22. bark — to shout
  23. season — of the year
  24. net — in sport

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