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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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. That was ________________ to happen.
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. bound — obliged
  3. land — to come down
  4. fall — to drop
  5. land — ground
  6. bound — tied together
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. bound — certain
  9. rash — hasty
  10. net — after costs
  11. fall — the season
  12. net — for catching
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. bark — to shout
  15. land — a country
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. row — a line
  18. net — in sport
  19. hand — in cards
  20. rash — a series
  21. fall — to drop
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. row — to paddle
  24. hand — help

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