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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. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. He works in a ________________ mill.
  4. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  10. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. This piece is in a major ________________.
  18. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  19. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  20. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — animal skin
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. saw — the tool
  4. key — the most important part
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. prune — to trim
  7. staff — employees
  8. cold — an illness
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. staff — a stick
  14. cold — not warm
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. prune — to trim
  17. key — in music
  18. key — for a lock
  19. saw — past of 'see'
  20. staff — employees
  21. bark — to shout
  22. saw — the tool
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. pitcher — a jug

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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