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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. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  2. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  3. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  4. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. I can't ________________ this cold.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. He works in a ________________ mill.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. She's very handy with a ________________.
  22. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — the season
  2. mark — a trace
  3. mark — a grade
  4. stand — on your feet
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. fall — to drop
  7. stand — to bear
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. bark — to shout
  12. chest — of your body
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. bat — the animal
  15. chest — of your body
  16. saw — the tool
  17. fall — to drop
  18. mark — to pay attention
  19. chest — a box
  20. cold — an illness
  21. saw — the tool
  22. stand — for spectators
  23. cold — not warm
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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