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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. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. I can't ________________ this cold.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  19. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. spring — a coil
  4. spring — the season
  5. stand — for spectators
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. cold — an illness
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. spring — of water
  10. wound — an injury
  11. wound — an injury
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. stand — to bear
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. cold — not warm
  18. mouse — the animal
  19. kick — in football
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. mouse — for a computer
  22. bark — to shout
  23. wake — a trail
  24. stand — on your feet

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