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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. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  2. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  10. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  11. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. That was ________________ to happen.
  22. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  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. sharp — with an edge
  2. jam — a tight spot
  3. net — for catching
  4. cold — not warm
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. chest — of your body
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. net — in sport
  9. jam — in traffic
  10. pass — a permit
  11. pass — to spend time
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. cold — an illness
  14. sharp — clever
  15. pass — to succeed
  16. bark — to shout
  17. chest — of your body
  18. bound — obliged
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. net — after costs
  21. bound — certain
  22. jam — to spread on bread
  23. chest — a box
  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