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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  7. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. wind — moving air
  6. wave — a sudden rise
  7. wave — with your hand
  8. field — a subject
  9. bear — the animal
  10. field — for sport
  11. bark — to shout
  12. wave — of the sea
  13. cold — not warm
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. bear — the animal
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. bat — the animal
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. bear — to put up with
  21. wind — moving air
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. field — farmland

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