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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
468
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: clip · fine · cold · rest · bark · saw · wound · ball

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  20. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  23. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. saw — the tool
  3. fine — all right
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. fine — high quality
  6. wound — an injury
  7. clip — for paper
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. rest — what's left
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. bark — to shout
  12. ball — a dance
  13. fine — a penalty
  14. saw — the tool
  15. ball — a great time
  16. wound — an injury
  17. clip — to cut
  18. cold — not warm
  19. saw — past of 'see'
  20. rest — what's left
  21. clip — a video
  22. ball — a round shape
  23. rest — a break
  24. cold — an illness

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