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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. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. That was ________________ to happen.
  9. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  10. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. bound — obliged
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. season — of the year
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. fork — in a road
  8. bound — certain
  9. fork — a garden tool
  10. deal — a big deal
  11. kid — to tease
  12. cold — not warm
  13. club — for golf
  14. kid — child
  15. bound — tied together
  16. deal — an agreement
  17. club — a group
  18. bark — to shout
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. season — in sport
  21. cold — an illness
  22. deal — to handle
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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