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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  8. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  11. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  12. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  13. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. The light ________________ burned out.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. I've got to change the light ________________.
  21. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  22. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  23. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  24. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.

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. chair — a professorship
  4. net — after costs
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. pitch — completely
  8. stick — a piece of wood
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. pitch — a sports field
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. net — in sport
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. net — for catching
  18. bulb — for light
  19. bark — to shout
  20. bulb — for light
  21. stick — to attach or keep to
  22. chair — a leader
  23. pitch — a sales talk
  24. bulb — of a plant

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