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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: coach · content · kid · patient · suit · cold · bark · sharp

  1. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  5. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. When will it ________________ you to start?
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  24. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. bark — to shout
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. cold — not warm
  8. suit — to fit
  9. kid — to tease
  10. cold — an illness
  11. content — happy
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. content — the amount
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. kid — child
  19. sharp — clever
  20. patient — calm and waiting
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. suit — in cards
  24. suit — clothes

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