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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 had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  6. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  23. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  24. We're on a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. cold — an illness
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. shower — to wash
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. calf — of the leg
  7. march — the month
  8. roll — a list
  9. shower — rain
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. march — the month
  15. bark — to shout
  16. cold — not warm
  17. hide — animal skin
  18. chair — a leader
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. march — music
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. roll — a cake
  24. roll — on a roll

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