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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  20. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  21. Where did you ________________ them?
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. foot — part of the body
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. bark — to shout
  9. march — the month
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. mug — a cup
  13. cold — not warm
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. foot — the bottom
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. mug — a face
  20. foot — a measure
  21. mug — to rob
  22. march — the month
  23. march — music
  24. cold — an illness

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