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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.

Make a worksheet

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 need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  10. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  13. Have you met the new head ________________?
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  20. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  21. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. drill — army training
  3. game — wild animals
  4. face — part of the head
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. toast — the most admired
  7. drill — a practice
  8. cold — an illness
  9. toast — bread
  10. toast — a drink to someone
  11. cold — not warm
  12. coach — pulled by horses
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. face — to point toward
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. face — to confront
  17. can — a tin
  18. bark — to shout
  19. can — to be able to
  20. can — a tin
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. game — a match
  24. bark — of a tree

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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