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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 120 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. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — obliged
  2. hand — in cards
  3. chest — of your body
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. bound — certain
  6. shower — to wash
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. perch — the fish
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. chest — a box
  15. lie — to recline
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. hand — help
  18. ground — the earth
  19. shower — rain
  20. ground — a position
  21. bound — tied together
  22. ground — crushed
  23. chest — of your body
  24. hand — part of the body

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