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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 116 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  5. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  6. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. That was ________________ to happen.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. He hit the ball with his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. mine — for digging
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. bound — obliged
  6. bound — tied together
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. wind — moving air
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. racket — a loud noise
  15. last — to go on
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. bark — to shout
  18. last — final
  19. wind — moving air
  20. last — finally
  21. bound — certain
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. racket — for tennis

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