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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. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  11. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  12. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  19. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  20. That was ________________ to happen.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. Did you ________________ the meat?
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — obliged
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. band — a ring
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. season — in sport
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. chest — a box
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. chest — of your body
  10. season — of the year
  11. root — of a word
  12. root — the cause
  13. last — finally
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. chest — of your body
  16. bark — to shout
  17. last — final
  18. root — of a plant
  19. bound — tied together
  20. bound — certain
  21. band — a music group
  22. last — to go on
  23. season — to add flavour
  24. band — a rubber band

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