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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. Have you met the new head ________________?
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  16. He works in a ________________ mill.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. spell — magic
  6. bass — the fish
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. spell — a short time
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. bark — to shout
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. cold — an illness
  15. bass — low music
  16. saw — the tool
  17. snap — to click
  18. saw — the tool
  19. cold — not warm
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. spell — letters
  22. saw — past of 'see'
  23. prune — to trim
  24. prune — to trim

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