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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. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  3. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. My mare is ________________ in color.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. rash — a series
  3. bay — a part of the sea
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. ground — crushed
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. bay — to keep at bay
  9. cell — in biology
  10. cell — a phone
  11. bark — to shout
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. wound — an injury
  14. rash — hasty
  15. ground — the earth
  16. bay — a horse colour
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. wound — an injury
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. dip — to dunk
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. ground — a position
  23. dip — to sink
  24. cold — an illness

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