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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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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: sharp · game · rock · present · content · cold · bark · mug

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  10. Where did you ________________ them?
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  14. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  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 — not warm
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. mug — a face
  5. game — wild animals
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. bark — to shout
  8. game — a match
  9. rock — music
  10. mug — to rob
  11. present — a gift
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. rock — a stone
  14. mug — a cup
  15. sharp — clever
  16. content — the amount
  17. rock — to move gently
  18. content — happy
  19. cold — an illness
  20. present — the time now
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. present — there
  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