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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. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. The ________________ went through the wall.
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  11. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  14. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  15. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  16. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. That was ________________ to happen.
  21. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. cold — not warm
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. club — for golf
  6. bark — to shout
  7. track — a path
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. pop — music
  10. track — to keep track
  11. club — a group
  12. cold — an illness
  13. nail — on a finger
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. club — for dancing
  16. track — a song
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. pop — soda
  20. bound — certain
  21. bound — obliged
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. bound — tied together

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