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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: bark · firm · bowl · rash · cold · mate · ground · pit

  1. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  11. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  12. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  13. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Have you found your soul ________________?
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — a company
  2. rash — hasty
  3. cold — not warm
  4. bowl — to roll
  5. mate — a friend
  6. pit — a fruit stone
  7. ground — crushed
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. bark — to shout
  10. firm — steady
  11. bowl — a dish
  12. pit — a hole
  13. firm — decided
  14. rash — a series
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. mate — a partner
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. mate — to breed
  19. pit — in a race
  20. cold — an illness
  21. ground — a position
  22. ground — the earth
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. bowl — a football final

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