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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 sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Where did you ________________ them?
  9. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  22. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. bat — the animal
  4. cold — not warm
  5. present — a gift
  6. last — to go on
  7. cold — an illness
  8. mug — to rob
  9. present — the time now
  10. last — finally
  11. can — to be able to
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. chair — a leader
  14. mug — a cup
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. last — final
  19. present — there
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. can — a tin
  22. can — a tin
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. mug — a face

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