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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. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  9. That was ________________ to happen.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. My father caught me by the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. kid — child
  3. squash — to crush
  4. kid — to tease
  5. march — the month
  6. bound — obliged
  7. squash — the sport
  8. bound — tied together
  9. bound — certain
  10. bark — to shout
  11. arm — a part of something
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. saw — the tool
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. march — music
  16. sharp — clever
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. saw — the tool
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. march — the month
  24. arm — part of the body

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