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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. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  9. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  15. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. wind — moving air
  4. swing — music
  5. cold — an illness
  6. rock — a stone
  7. wind — moving air
  8. rock — to move gently
  9. chip — for betting
  10. swing — in golf
  11. swing — to play on
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. mark — a trace
  15. chip — to eat
  16. cold — not warm
  17. last — finally
  18. rock — music
  19. last — to go on
  20. chip — in a computer
  21. bark — to shout
  22. last — final
  23. mark — a grade
  24. wind — to turn a key

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