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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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 · cap · leaves · bark · club · rule · season · rash

  1. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  11. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  20. Don't do anything ________________.
  21. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. rule — government
  5. cap — of ice
  6. club — a group
  7. bark — to shout
  8. leaves — to go away
  9. cold — an illness
  10. club — for dancing
  11. cap — a hat
  12. cap — a lid
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. cold — not warm
  15. leaves — of a tree
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. rule — a law
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. leaves — lets stay
  20. rash — hasty
  21. club — for golf
  22. rash — a series
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. season — in sport

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