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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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  20. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. kick — in football
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. rock — a stone
  8. wax — to grow
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. rock — to move gently
  14. sharp — clever
  15. coach — pulled by horses
  16. cold — an illness
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. bark — to shout
  19. kick — with a leg
  20. kick — a thrill
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. cold — not warm
  24. patient — a sick person

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