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

Word bank: hide · bark · ball · ground · tear · stick · cold · bay

  1. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  9. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  12. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  13. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  16. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  17. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  18. My mare is ________________ in color.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. hide — animal skin
  3. cold — not warm
  4. ball — a dance
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. ground — a position
  7. tear — from crying
  8. bay — a part of the sea
  9. ball — a great time
  10. tear — to rip
  11. bay — to keep at bay
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. ball — a round shape
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. bay — a horse colour
  19. bark — to shout
  20. ground — crushed
  21. stick — to attach or keep to
  22. tear — from crying
  23. cold — an illness
  24. ground — the earth

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