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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: fan · bowl · cold · bay · mine · bark · season · fall

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Did you ________________ the meat?
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  9. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  10. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  19. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  20. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  21. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  24. My mare is ________________ in color.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. cold — not warm
  5. season — to add flavour
  6. fall — to drop
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. bay — to keep at bay
  9. season — in sport
  10. season — of the year
  11. bark — to shout
  12. cold — an illness
  13. fall — the season
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. fall — to drop
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. bay — a part of the sea
  19. fan — to cool the air
  20. bowl — a football final
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. mine — for digging
  23. bowl — to roll
  24. bay — a horse colour

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