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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: bark · toast · tear · stick · bowl · date · cold · foot

  1. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  5. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  6. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  12. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  15. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  16. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  17. Have you settled on a ________________?
  18. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  19. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  22. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — the most admired
  2. tear — from crying
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. bowl — to roll
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. foot — the bottom
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. foot — a measure
  9. tear — from crying
  10. cold — not warm
  11. bowl — a football final
  12. foot — part of the body
  13. bark — to shout
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. stick — to attach or keep to
  16. bowl — a dish
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. date — the fruit
  19. toast — a drink to someone
  20. tear — to rip
  21. stick — a piece of wood
  22. toast — bread
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. cold — an illness

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