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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 can't ________________ this cold.
  2. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  7. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  8. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  9. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  18. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — to bear
  2. ball — a dance
  3. chest — of your body
  4. drill — army training
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. rest — what's left
  7. lean — thin
  8. ball — a round shape
  9. lean — to bend
  10. rest — a break
  11. chest — of your body
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. stand — on your feet
  14. bark — to shout
  15. capital — money
  16. drill — a practice
  17. ball — a great time
  18. rest — what's left
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. capital — a city
  21. lean — to rest against
  22. chest — a box
  23. stand — for spectators
  24. drill — the tool

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