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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 120 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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  10. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. That was ________________ to happen.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  23. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. march — the month
  4. tube — a container
  5. bark — to shout
  6. march — the month
  7. hand — in cards
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. bound — tied together
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. mine — for digging
  12. cold — an illness
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. tube — the underground
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. march — music
  18. bound — certain
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. cold — not warm
  22. bound — obliged
  23. lie — to recline
  24. hand — help

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