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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 120 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. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  18. Have you met the new head ________________?
  19. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  22. The King held a masked ________________.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. cold — an illness
  3. cold — not warm
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. board — a flat piece
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. board — to get on
  11. bat — the animal
  12. ball — a round shape
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. coach — pulled by horses
  16. bark — to shout
  17. pound — to hit hard
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. pound — a weight
  20. rash — a series
  21. board — a committee
  22. ball — a dance
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. ball — a great time

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