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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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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 · scale · safe · net · row · bark · hand · spell

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  20. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. net — in sport
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. row — a line
  7. cold — not warm
  8. spell — a short time
  9. safe — out of danger
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. net — after costs
  12. spell — letters
  13. spell — magic
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. cold — an illness
  16. scale — size or range
  17. row — to paddle
  18. hand — help
  19. safe — a strongbox
  20. safe — out of danger
  21. hand — in cards
  22. net — for catching
  23. bark — to shout
  24. scale — in music

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