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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: face · drill · bark · pitcher · file · bulb · cold · foot

  1. I've got to change the light ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. The light ________________ burned out.
  18. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. cold — an illness
  4. face — part of the head
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. file — a tool
  7. face — to confront
  8. drill — a practice
  9. bulb — of a plant
  10. drill — army training
  11. drill — the tool
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. file — a line of people
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. foot — the bottom
  16. file — a document
  17. bulb — for light
  18. foot — part of the body
  19. cold — not warm
  20. foot — a measure
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. bark — to shout
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. face — to point toward

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