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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: ground · temple · pitch · cold · lie · bark · drill · arm

  1. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  2. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  9. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  10. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  11. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. My father caught me by the ________________.
  17. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. When was this ________________ built?
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. lie — to recline
  2. ground — the earth
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. ground — crushed
  5. bark — to shout
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. drill — the tool
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. pitch — a sports field
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. temple — side of the head
  12. drill — army training
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. cold — not warm
  15. cold — an illness
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. pitch — completely
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. ground — a position
  23. arm — a part of something
  24. drill — a practice

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