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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. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  6. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. The ________________ went through the wall.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  23. That was ________________ to happen.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. nail — on a finger
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. fine — all right
  7. chest — of your body
  8. chest — of your body
  9. pop — to visit
  10. ground — the earth
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. bark — to shout
  13. fine — a penalty
  14. chest — a box
  15. pound — to hit hard
  16. pound — a weight
  17. ground — crushed
  18. pop — soda
  19. bound — obliged
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. pop — music
  22. bound — tied together
  23. bound — certain
  24. ground — a position

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