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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: bark · cold · bear · season · calf · lash · wind · fork

  1. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  23. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. calf — of the leg
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. lash — an eyelash
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. cold — an illness
  7. wind — moving air
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. bear — to put up with
  10. wind — moving air
  11. bear — the animal
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. season — of the year
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. fork — in a road
  18. lash — to lash out
  19. season — in sport
  20. cold — not warm
  21. bark — to shout
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. bear — the animal
  24. cold — the Cold War

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