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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: tear · pass · leaves · ground · cap · cold · rash · bark

  1. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  2. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  10. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  11. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — a permit
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. cap — a lid
  4. cap — a hat
  5. cold — an illness
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. ground — crushed
  8. tear — to rip
  9. pass — to succeed
  10. leaves — lets stay
  11. pass — to spend time
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. cold — not warm
  14. leaves — to go away
  15. cap — of ice
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. bark — to shout
  18. tear — from crying
  19. ground — a position
  20. tear — from crying
  21. rash — hasty
  22. rash — a series
  23. leaves — of a tree
  24. ground — the earth

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