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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 124 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 bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  4. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  7. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. My mare is ________________ in color.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. face — to point toward
  3. bear — the animal
  4. bay — to keep at bay
  5. face — to confront
  6. bear — to put up with
  7. bay — a part of the sea
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. march — music
  11. march — the month
  12. spring — a coil
  13. spring — the season
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. face — part of the head
  16. march — the month
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. cold — an illness
  19. bear — the animal
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. cold — not warm
  23. bay — a horse colour
  24. spring — of water

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