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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: cold · suit · staff · tear · band · deal · straw · bark

  1. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  6. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  15. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. When will it ________________ you to start?
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. tear — from crying
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. staff — employees
  6. deal — an agreement
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. suit — clothes
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. cold — an illness
  11. deal — a big deal
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. staff — a stick
  15. suit — in cards
  16. tear — from crying
  17. band — a ring
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. suit — to fit
  20. band — a music group
  21. bark — to shout
  22. deal — to handle
  23. cold — not warm
  24. tear — to rip

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