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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. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  3. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  4. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  9. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  10. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  13. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  14. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. can — to be able to
  3. cue — a signal
  4. fine — all right
  5. bark — to shout
  6. lean — thin
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. lean — to rest against
  9. fine — high quality
  10. fine — a penalty
  11. wound — an injury
  12. can — a tin
  13. lean — to bend
  14. cue — a hint
  15. spell — a short time
  16. wound — an injury
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. can — a tin
  19. cold — an illness
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. spell — magic
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. spell — letters
  24. cue — for pool

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