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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 116 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 hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  3. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. lie — to recline
  3. mark — to pay attention
  4. cap — a lid
  5. ground — a position
  6. cold — not warm
  7. kick — in football
  8. kick — a thrill
  9. ground — the earth
  10. drill — a practice
  11. bark — to shout
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. cap — a hat
  16. drill — army training
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. drill — the tool
  19. mark — a trace
  20. ground — crushed
  21. mark — a grade
  22. cap — of ice
  23. lie — an untruth
  24. bark — of a tree

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