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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 120 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: drill · bark · season · cap · firm · cold · wind · mug

  1. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  3. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  4. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. Where did you ________________ them?
  13. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. mug — a cup
  3. mug — a face
  4. cap — a hat
  5. wind — moving air
  6. season — of the year
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. drill — army training
  9. cold — not warm
  10. cold — an illness
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. mug — to rob
  13. firm — steady
  14. bark — to shout
  15. drill — a practice
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. firm — decided
  18. drill — the tool
  19. season — in sport
  20. cap — of ice
  21. cap — a lid
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. firm — a company

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