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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.

Make a worksheet

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: net · bark · cold · field · bear · lean · capital · march

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. lean — thin
  3. lean — to rest against
  4. march — the month
  5. field — a subject
  6. capital — money
  7. march — the month
  8. net — after costs
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. capital — a city
  11. lean — to bend
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. net — for catching
  15. bear — the animal
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. field — farmland
  18. net — in sport
  19. field — for sport
  20. bear — to put up with
  21. bark — to shout
  22. march — music
  23. bear — the animal
  24. cold — not warm

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