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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 120 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: stick · bear · cold · game · coach · bark · spring · tube

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. Have you met the new head ________________?
  23. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. stick — a piece of wood
  3. tube — the underground
  4. spring — of water
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. bear — the animal
  8. tube — a container
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. game — a match
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. cold — not warm
  14. stick — to attach or keep to
  15. spring — the season
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. game — wild animals
  18. bear — the animal
  19. cold — an illness
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. bark — to shout
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. bear — to put up with
  24. spring — a coil

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