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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. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  22. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. That was ________________ to happen.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a committee
  2. cap — a hat
  3. bark — to shout
  4. court — of law
  5. tear — from crying
  6. content — happy
  7. tear — to rip
  8. row — a line
  9. bound — tied together
  10. court — for sport
  11. cap — a lid
  12. bound — obliged
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. board — a flat piece
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. row — to paddle
  18. court — of a king
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. content — the amount
  21. cap — of ice
  22. board — to get on
  23. tear — from crying
  24. bound — certain

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