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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 water is too ________________.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  20. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  21. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  22. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  23. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. last — to go on
  4. cap — a lid
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. sharp — clever
  8. drill — a practice
  9. vault — a safe
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. jam — to spread on bread
  12. bark — to shout
  13. drill — the tool
  14. jam — in traffic
  15. last — final
  16. cap — of ice
  17. drill — army training
  18. cold — an illness
  19. vault — in gymnastics
  20. cap — a hat
  21. sharp — with an edge
  22. jam — a tight spot
  23. vault — an arched ceiling
  24. last — finally

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