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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  18. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. cold — an illness
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. bark — to shout
  5. bat — the animal
  6. fine — a penalty
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. kid — to tease
  9. march — music
  10. racket — a loud noise
  11. march — the month
  12. march — the month
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. fine — high quality
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. fine — all right
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. kid — child
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. coach — pulled by horses
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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