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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: cold · cell · staff · ball · pitch · bark · object · spell

  1. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  10. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  11. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  12. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  21. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. ball — a dance
  3. ball — a round shape
  4. cell — a phone
  5. spell — magic
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. staff — employees
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. pitch — a sports field
  10. staff — a stick
  11. object — to protest
  12. object — a thing
  13. cold — not warm
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. cold — an illness
  16. pitch — completely
  17. object — an aim
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. bark — to shout
  20. staff — employees
  21. ball — a great time
  22. cell — in biology
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. spell — a short time

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