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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  7. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  11. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  14. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  17. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  21. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  22. Did you ________________ the meat?
  23. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. field — a subject
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. cold — an illness
  5. cold — not warm
  6. staff — employees
  7. mark — a grade
  8. field — for sport
  9. bark — to shout
  10. mark — a trace
  11. season — in sport
  12. chair — a leader
  13. pit — a fruit stone
  14. season — of the year
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. staff — a stick
  17. mark — to pay attention
  18. field — farmland
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. pit — a hole
  21. pit — in a race
  22. season — to add flavour
  23. staff — employees
  24. bark — of a tree

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