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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.

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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: wake · field · cap · cold · bark · scale · sharp · charge

  1. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. The tickets are free of ________________.
  22. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  23. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a lid
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. charge — electricity
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. cold — not warm
  6. scale — in music
  7. sharp — clever
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. bark — to shout
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. cold — an illness
  14. scale — size or range
  15. field — for sport
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. wake — a trail
  18. field — farmland
  19. cap — of ice
  20. field — a subject
  21. charge — a price
  22. charge — in control
  23. cap — a hat
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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