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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 sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  11. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  18. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  19. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. We're on a ________________ here.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. bark — to shout
  3. roll — a cake
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. staff — a stick
  6. last — finally
  7. chair — a leader
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. roll — a list
  11. vault — a safe
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. last — to go on
  14. drill — army training
  15. vault — an arched ceiling
  16. cold — an illness
  17. staff — employees
  18. staff — employees
  19. vault — in gymnastics
  20. cold — not warm
  21. last — final
  22. roll — on a roll
  23. drill — the tool
  24. drill — a practice

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