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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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  20. That was ________________ to happen.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — obliged
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. trunk — of a tree
  5. snap — to click
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. spring — a coil
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. stick — to attach or keep to
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. cold — an illness
  15. cold — not warm
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. kick — in football
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. bound — tied together
  20. bound — certain
  21. wax — to grow
  22. spring — the season
  23. spring — of water
  24. kick — with a leg

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