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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. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  18. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  19. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  24. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. field — farmland
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. cold — an illness
  5. wake — before a funeral
  6. field — a subject
  7. present — a gift
  8. cold — not warm
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. can — to be able to
  12. present — the time now
  13. bark — to shout
  14. bore — to tire
  15. mine — for digging
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. bore — gave birth
  18. can — a tin
  19. present — there
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. field — for sport
  22. wake — a trail
  23. wake — to stop sleeping
  24. bore — to drill

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