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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  4. I can't ________________ this cold.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  17. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  20. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. ground — the earth
  3. stand — for spectators
  4. stand — to bear
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. saw — the tool
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. stand — on your feet
  10. row — to paddle
  11. saw — the tool
  12. ground — a position
  13. row — a line
  14. bark — to shout
  15. hand — help
  16. pit — a fruit stone
  17. pit — in a race
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. saw — past of 'see'
  20. pit — a hole
  21. hand — in cards
  22. cold — not warm
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. ground — crushed

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