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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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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: cold · bore · fall · wind · march · land · bark · kick

  1. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  24. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. kick — in football
  3. march — music
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. march — the month
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. bore — gave birth
  8. cold — an illness
  9. bark — to shout
  10. wind — moving air
  11. fall — to drop
  12. fall — the season
  13. kick — with a leg
  14. land — ground
  15. cold — not warm
  16. bore — to tire
  17. land — to come down
  18. land — a country
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. wind — moving air
  21. fall — to drop
  22. march — the month
  23. kick — a thrill
  24. bore — to drill

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