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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.

Words on the sheet
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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: toast · craft · bark · spell · track · wind · cold · hide

  1. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  3. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  4. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  5. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  18. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  19. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. spell — a short time
  3. toast — a drink to someone
  4. toast — the most admired
  5. hide — animal skin
  6. bark — to shout
  7. spell — magic
  8. craft — a handicraft
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. wind — moving air
  12. toast — bread
  13. wind — moving air
  14. track — a path
  15. track — a song
  16. cold — an illness
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. craft — boats
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. track — to keep track
  22. cold — not warm
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. craft — a skill

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