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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. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  4. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  5. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  6. She's very handy with a ________________.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. chair — a leader
  3. saw — past of 'see'
  4. present — there
  5. dip — to dunk
  6. saw — the tool
  7. bat — the animal
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. saw — the tool
  11. present — a gift
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. cap — a hat
  14. cap — of ice
  15. dip — to sink
  16. bark — to shout
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. dip — a sauce
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. cap — a lid
  23. present — the time now
  24. patient — a sick person

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