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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. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  2. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. Don't do anything ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — tied together
  2. bound — obliged
  3. clip — to cut
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. bound — certain
  6. bark — to shout
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. clip — a video
  9. shower — to wash
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. chest — of your body
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. root — of a plant
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. chest — of your body
  18. shower — rain
  19. root — of a word
  20. chest — a box
  21. root — the cause
  22. rash — a series
  23. clip — for paper
  24. rash — hasty

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