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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 116 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. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  11. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  12. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  13. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  14. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — lets stay
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. cold — not warm
  6. bark — to shout
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. season — in sport
  9. cold — an illness
  10. vault — a safe
  11. vault — in gymnastics
  12. season — of the year
  13. kick — with a leg
  14. leaves — of a tree
  15. saw — the tool
  16. leaves — to go away
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. saw — the tool
  19. wound — an injury
  20. kick — in football
  21. wound — an injury
  22. saw — past of 'see'
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. vault — an arched ceiling

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