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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. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. That was ________________ to happen.
  18. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. fall — to drop
  4. perch — the fish
  5. fall — to drop
  6. fork — in a road
  7. last — to go on
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. bark — to shout
  10. fall — the season
  11. cold — an illness
  12. drill — the tool
  13. drill — army training
  14. last — final
  15. drill — a practice
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. bound — certain
  18. bound — obliged
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. last — finally
  21. cold — not warm
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. bound — tied together
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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