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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  4. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  5. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  22. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. hand — help
  3. mark — to pay attention
  4. mark — a grade
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. spring — of water
  7. hand — in cards
  8. bark — to shout
  9. present — the time now
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. cold — not warm
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. perch — the fish
  15. present — there
  16. spring — the season
  17. spring — a coil
  18. cap — a lid
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. present — a gift
  22. cap — a hat
  23. cap — of ice
  24. mark — a trace

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