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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.

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: stand · land · content · pitcher · saw · cold · bark · present

  1. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  3. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  4. He works in a ________________ mill.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. I can't ________________ this cold.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. She's very handy with a ________________.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. stand — on your feet
  3. stand — for spectators
  4. saw — the tool
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. bark — to shout
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. cold — not warm
  9. content — happy
  10. present — the time now
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. land — a country
  14. land — ground
  15. land — to come down
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. present — there
  18. content — the amount
  19. cold — an illness
  20. stand — to bear
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. saw — the tool
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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