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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. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  5. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  15. This piece is in a major ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. key — for a lock
  2. ground — crushed
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. lean — to bend
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. key — the most important part
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. ground — a position
  11. prune — to trim
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. bark — to shout
  14. lean — thin
  15. key — in music
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. ground — the earth
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. cold — not warm
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. prune — to trim
  23. cold — an illness
  24. wake — a trail

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