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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. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  3. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  4. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  5. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  6. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  10. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. The ________________ went through the wall.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. That was ________________ to happen.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — obliged
  2. nail — on a finger
  3. present — there
  4. bound — tied together
  5. present — a gift
  6. scale — in music
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. cold — not warm
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. present — the time now
  11. tube — the underground
  12. chest — of your body
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. chest — a box
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. bound — certain
  17. bark — to shout
  18. tube — in a tire
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. tube — a container
  21. cold — an illness
  22. scale — size or range
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. chest — of your 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