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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 ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  7. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  8. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. Have you met the new head ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. bark — to shout
  3. kid — child
  4. cold — an illness
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. stick — to attach or keep to
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. kid — to tease
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. game — wild animals
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. drill — the tool
  17. drill — a practice
  18. coach — pulled by horses
  19. perch — the fish
  20. game — a match
  21. cold — not warm
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. drill — army training
  24. coach — a trainer

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