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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. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. That must've been a ________________.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  5. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Did you ________________ the button?
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  15. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  16. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. rush — a thrill
  3. season — of the year
  4. press — a publisher
  5. cue — for pool
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. content — the amount
  9. rush — to hurry
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. press — to push
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. season — in sport
  14. cue — a signal
  15. cue — a hint
  16. rush — hurry
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. content — happy
  19. bark — to shout
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. press — newspapers
  23. cold — an illness
  24. cold — not warm

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