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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. False peace will not ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  9. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  10. That was ________________ to happen.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  15. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  16. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. cold — not warm
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. mouse — the animal
  5. last — final
  6. current — happening now
  7. bark — to shout
  8. bound — tied together
  9. current — electric
  10. bound — certain
  11. cold — an illness
  12. present — a gift
  13. last — finally
  14. mouse — for a computer
  15. present — the time now
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. wound — an injury
  18. wound — an injury
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. current — of water
  21. present — there
  22. bound — obliged
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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