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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. He works in a ________________ mill.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  10. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. That was ________________ to happen.
  19. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. march — the month
  4. tear — to rip
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. ruler — a monarch
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. cold — an illness
  9. bound — obliged
  10. ruler — for measuring
  11. march — music
  12. pound — a weight
  13. tear — from crying
  14. ruler — for measuring
  15. tear — from crying
  16. pound — to hit hard
  17. cold — not warm
  18. bound — certain
  19. bound — tied together
  20. bark — to shout
  21. pound — for dogs
  22. saw — the tool
  23. march — the month
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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