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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. last — to go on
  4. hand — help
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. object — to protest
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. bark — to shout
  10. object — a thing
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. hand — in cards
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. last — final
  16. cold — not warm
  17. object — an aim
  18. last — finally
  19. wax — to grow
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. pitcher — a jug

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