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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: pound · jam · fan · rash · cold · spring · pitcher · bark

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  24. Don't do anything ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. cold — an illness
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. bark — to shout
  6. cold — not warm
  7. spring — of water
  8. rash — a series
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. pound — a weight
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. spring — the season
  16. jam — a tight spot
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. jam — to spread on bread
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. spring — a coil
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. jam — in traffic
  24. rash — hasty

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