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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: cold · foot · bark · object · plane · sharp · tube · drill

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  18. The ________________ took off on time.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. foot — a measure
  4. drill — a practice
  5. cold — not warm
  6. plane — in geometry
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. foot — the bottom
  9. bark — to shout
  10. object — a thing
  11. sharp — clever
  12. plane — a tool
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. object — an aim
  15. drill — army training
  16. tube — the underground
  17. foot — part of the body
  18. plane — an aircraft
  19. drill — the tool
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. tube — a container
  22. object — to protest
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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