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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 116 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 was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  10. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  17. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. That was ________________ to happen.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. The people resisted their cruel ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. march — the month
  3. bark — to shout
  4. ruler — for measuring
  5. spring — of water
  6. march — music
  7. chip — for betting
  8. spring — the season
  9. bound — tied together
  10. chip — in a computer
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. mine — for digging
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. march — the month
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. bound — obliged
  17. chip — to eat
  18. clip — for paper
  19. ruler — for measuring
  20. clip — a video
  21. bound — certain
  22. spring — a coil
  23. clip — to cut
  24. ruler — a monarch

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