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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. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  19. Did you ________________ the meat?
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. I've got the luggage in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — completely
  2. bark — to shout
  3. ground — a position
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. cold — an illness
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. pitch — a sports field
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. lash — to lash out
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. saw — the tool
  13. cold — not warm
  14. pitch — a sales talk
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. season — of the year
  17. saw — the tool
  18. lash — an eyelash
  19. season — to add flavour
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. ground — the earth
  22. ground — crushed
  23. season — in sport
  24. trunk — of a car

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