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

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. The light ________________ burned out.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. I've got to change the light ________________.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. That was ________________ to happen.
  24. We are ________________ to obey laws.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. bound — tied together
  3. cold — an illness
  4. bulb — of a plant
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. bulb — for light
  7. chest — a box
  8. content — the amount
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. bulb — for light
  11. content — happy
  12. bark — to shout
  13. snap — to click
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. chest — of your body
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. chest — of your body
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. kid — to tease
  21. cold — not warm
  22. kid — child
  23. bound — certain
  24. bound — obliged

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