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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  6. My father caught me by the ________________.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. Have you met the new head ________________?
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. cap — a lid
  5. arm — a part of something
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. bark — to shout
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. scale — in music
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. row — to paddle
  12. coach — pulled by horses
  13. cap — a hat
  14. scale — size or range
  15. pound — a weight
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. pound — to hit hard
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. cold — an illness
  21. cap — of ice
  22. row — a line
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. row — a quarrel

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