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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  9. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  16. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. That was ________________ to happen.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. chest — of your body
  3. fall — the season
  4. march — music
  5. fall — to drop
  6. wound — an injury
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. bound — tied together
  9. pitch — a sports field
  10. chest — of your body
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. land — to come down
  13. chest — a box
  14. bark — to shout
  15. pitch — completely
  16. bound — obliged
  17. march — the month
  18. wound — an injury
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. march — the month
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. land — a country
  23. fall — to drop
  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