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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 116 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. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. That was ________________ to happen.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. cold — not warm
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. lean — to bend
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. bound — certain
  9. bark — to shout
  10. lean — thin
  11. cell — in biology
  12. cold — an illness
  13. bound — obliged
  14. spring — a coil
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. coach — pulled by horses
  17. spring — the season
  18. lean — to rest against
  19. drill — the tool
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. drill — army training
  22. spring — of water
  23. drill — a practice
  24. bound — tied together

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