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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. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  13. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. That was ________________ to happen.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — army training
  2. stem — to come from
  3. stem — a stem cell
  4. chest — of your body
  5. chest — a box
  6. pass — to succeed
  7. march — music
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. bound — obliged
  10. march — the month
  11. cold — not warm
  12. bound — tied together
  13. pass — a permit
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. chest — of your body
  16. bound — certain
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. cold — an illness
  19. pass — to spend time
  20. drill — a practice
  21. drill — the tool
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. march — the month
  24. bark — to shout

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