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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. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  4. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. cold — an illness
  3. lean — to rest against
  4. lean — thin
  5. field — a subject
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. cold — not warm
  8. drill — the tool
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. wound — an injury
  11. rash — a series
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. rash — hasty
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. field — farmland
  16. drill — a practice
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. bark — to shout
  19. drill — army training
  20. lean — to bend
  21. wound — an injury
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. field — for sport

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