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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. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  9. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. That was ________________ to happen.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. Have you found your soul ________________?
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — tied together
  2. swing — music
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. last — to go on
  5. last — final
  6. mine — for digging
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. root — of a plant
  9. root — of a word
  10. last — finally
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. mate — a friend
  13. swing — to play on
  14. bound — obliged
  15. root — the cause
  16. bark — to shout
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. mate — to breed
  19. content — the amount
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. bound — certain
  22. content — happy
  23. mate — a partner
  24. swing — in golf

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