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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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  14. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  21. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. pass — a permit
  4. bat — the animal
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. branch — a division
  7. cold — not warm
  8. bark — to shout
  9. ground — the earth
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. lie — to recline
  12. cold — an illness
  13. pass — to spend time
  14. pass — to succeed
  15. ground — crushed
  16. mark — a grade
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. mark — a trace
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. ground — a position
  23. mark — to pay attention
  24. bark — of a tree

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