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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: bark · spell · track · press · roll · cold · bat · staff

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  4. Did you ________________ the button?
  5. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. We're on a ________________ here.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  21. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  22. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  23. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  24. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. roll — a list
  4. press — to push
  5. staff — employees
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. roll — on a roll
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. track — to keep track
  10. bark — to shout
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. staff — a stick
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. press — newspapers
  15. cold — an illness
  16. spell — magic
  17. spell — a short time
  18. spell — letters
  19. cold — not warm
  20. track — a path
  21. press — a publisher
  22. roll — a cake
  23. staff — employees
  24. track — a song

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