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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. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. Have you settled on a ________________?
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  8. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. What do you think of the new ________________?
  17. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  18. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  21. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  22. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. bark — to shout
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. fall — to drop
  5. cabinet — a cupboard
  6. field — a subject
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. field — for sport
  11. cold — not warm
  12. date — the fruit
  13. field — farmland
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. fall — to drop
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. fan — to cool the air
  19. cold — an illness
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. hide — animal skin
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. fall — the season

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