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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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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: march · cold · wake · bark · wind · plane · object · foot

  1. The ________________ took off on time.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  14. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  22. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. I have a corn on my right ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. plane — an aircraft
  2. march — the month
  3. wind — moving air
  4. bark — to shout
  5. foot — a measure
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. object — an aim
  9. cold — not warm
  10. foot — the bottom
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. plane — a tool
  14. plane — in geometry
  15. wind — moving air
  16. object — to protest
  17. march — music
  18. march — the month
  19. wake — a trail
  20. cold — an illness
  21. object — a thing
  22. wake — to stop sleeping
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. foot — part of the body

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