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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 124 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 ________________ took off on time.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. Have you met the new head ________________?
  14. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  22. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  23. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  24. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. plane — an aircraft
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. cold — not warm
  7. plane — a tool
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. scale — size or range
  10. stock — shares
  11. scale — in music
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. deal — an agreement
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. bark — to shout
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. deal — a big deal
  22. stock — goods
  23. plane — in geometry
  24. deal — to handle

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