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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. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  4. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. That was ________________ to happen.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  21. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — obliged
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. prune — to trim
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. bound — certain
  9. shower — to wash
  10. bound — tied together
  11. shower — rain
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. band — a music group
  15. prune — to trim
  16. perch — the fish
  17. kid — child
  18. band — a ring
  19. cold — not warm
  20. hide — animal skin
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. kid — to tease
  24. cold — an illness

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