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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: bark · court · lie · spring · current · content · cold · toast

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  16. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  21. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. current — of water
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. toast — the most admired
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. spring — a coil
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. cold — not warm
  10. content — the amount
  11. content — happy
  12. current — happening now
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. spring — the season
  15. toast — bread
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. court — of a king
  18. court — for sport
  19. court — of law
  20. current — electric
  21. lie — to recline
  22. spring — of water
  23. toast — a drink to someone
  24. bark — to shout

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