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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 sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. My mare is ________________ in color.
  17. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — to shout
  2. sharp — clever
  3. pitch — completely
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. cold — not warm
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. band — a music group
  11. bay — a part of the sea
  12. tube — the underground
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. band — a ring
  16. bay — a horse colour
  17. pitch — a sales talk
  18. stem — to come from
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. cold — an illness
  22. bay — to keep at bay
  23. tube — a container
  24. band — a rubber band

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