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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 116 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: drill · bark · pop · lie · cold · chip · straw · stand

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  7. I can't ________________ this cold.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  17. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  20. We're almost out of ________________.
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. lie — an untruth
  4. bark — to shout
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. chip — to eat
  7. stand — to bear
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. pop — music
  12. drill — a practice
  13. chip — for betting
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. drill — army training
  16. stand — on your feet
  17. chip — in a computer
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. stand — for spectators
  20. pop — soda
  21. pop — to visit
  22. drill — the tool
  23. cold — not warm
  24. lie — to recline

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