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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. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  13. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. pass — to succeed
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. cold — an illness
  7. face — to confront
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. wind — moving air
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. pass — a permit
  13. pass — to spend time
  14. rash — hasty
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. cold — not warm
  17. wind — moving air
  18. can — a tin
  19. face — to point toward
  20. can — a tin
  21. bark — to shout
  22. can — to be able to
  23. rash — a series
  24. face — part of the head

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