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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. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  23. That was ________________ to happen.
  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. race — a contest
  2. bound — obliged
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. branch — a division
  5. hand — help
  6. rock — to move gently
  7. swing — in golf
  8. hand — in cards
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. cell — a phone
  11. swing — music
  12. race — humankind
  13. rock — music
  14. cell — in biology
  15. rock — a stone
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. swing — to play on
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. race — the arms race
  22. bound — tied together
  23. bound — certain
  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