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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. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  6. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. The tickets are free of ________________.
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. The King held a masked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. bark — to shout
  4. ball — a great time
  5. board — a committee
  6. charge — electricity
  7. cold — not warm
  8. charge — a price
  9. drill — the tool
  10. field — farmland
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. field — a subject
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. file — a document
  15. field — for sport
  16. board — to get on
  17. cold — an illness
  18. drill — army training
  19. file — a tool
  20. board — a flat piece
  21. file — a line of people
  22. charge — in control
  23. drill — a practice
  24. ball — a dance

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