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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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  3. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  4. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  5. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. That was ________________ to happen.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. row — to paddle
  3. object — a thing
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. object — an aim
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. file — a document
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. bound — certain
  13. row — a line
  14. cold — an illness
  15. cold — not warm
  16. bound — tied together
  17. file — a line of people
  18. bark — to shout
  19. bound — obliged
  20. file — a tool
  21. object — to protest
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. stick — to attach or keep to
  24. cell — in biology

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