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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 · bowl · cold · firm · lie · foot · can · rock

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  3. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  4. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  5. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  8. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  11. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  14. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  19. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  20. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  21. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  22. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  23. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  24. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. can — a tin
  3. bowl — a football final
  4. rock — music
  5. foot — the bottom
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. foot — a measure
  8. foot — part of the body
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. bowl — to roll
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. lie — to recline
  14. firm — steady
  15. bark — to shout
  16. cold — not warm
  17. cold — an illness
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. rock — to move gently
  20. can — a tin
  21. rock — a stone
  22. firm — a company
  23. can — to be able to
  24. firm — decided

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