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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 120 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.

Words on the sheet
468
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 · trunk · bark · spell · fall · lie · mouse · sharp

  1. It's one o'clock ________________.
  2. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  11. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  14. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  15. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — exactly
  2. spell — magic
  3. spell — letters
  4. cold — an illness
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. fall — to drop
  7. sharp — clever
  8. fall — to drop
  9. bark — to shout
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. spell — a short time
  13. lie — to recline
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. mouse — for a computer
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. mouse — the animal
  19. fall — the season
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. trunk — of an elephant
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. cold — not warm
  24. trunk — of a tree

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