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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: firm · season · hide · bark · bat · race · bear · spell

  1. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  14. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  17. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. spell — letters
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. firm — a company
  5. season — of the year
  6. race — a contest
  7. spell — magic
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. spell — a short time
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. race — the arms race
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. firm — decided
  14. bear — to put up with
  15. season — in sport
  16. firm — steady
  17. bear — the animal
  18. bark — to shout
  19. bat — the animal
  20. race — humankind
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. bear — the animal
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. hide — animal skin

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