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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. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. She's very handy with a ________________.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  12. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. That was ________________ to happen.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — tied together
  2. drill — army training
  3. content — happy
  4. hand — help
  5. content — the amount
  6. saw — the tool
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. spell — magic
  9. hand — in cards
  10. spell — letters
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. bound — obliged
  13. drill — the tool
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. saw — the tool
  16. lie — to recline
  17. spell — a short time
  18. drill — a practice
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. bark — to shout
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. bound — certain

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