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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  11. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. Have you met the new head ________________?
  22. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  23. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. file — a document
  3. cold — an illness
  4. jam — to spread on bread
  5. chest — of your body
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. jam — a tight spot
  9. court — for sport
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. court — of a king
  13. chest — of your body
  14. court — of law
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. chest — a box
  17. cold — not warm
  18. jam — in traffic
  19. file — a tool
  20. file — a line of people
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. hide — animal skin
  24. bark — to shout

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