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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 120 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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  15. Have you met the new head ________________?
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  22. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. pound — to hit hard
  3. club — for golf
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. bark — to shout
  6. club — a group
  7. race — the arms race
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. cold — not warm
  11. race — humankind
  12. chair — a leader
  13. cold — an illness
  14. club — for dancing
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. race — a contest
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. perch — the fish
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. pound — a weight
  24. perch — for a bird

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