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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 116 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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. That was ________________ to happen.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. season — of the year
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. hand — in cards
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. bark — to shout
  7. squash — to crush
  8. mine — for digging
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. bound — tied together
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. squash — the sport
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. wind — moving air
  15. season — in sport
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. bound — obliged
  18. spell — magic
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. spell — a short time
  21. wind — moving air
  22. bound — certain
  23. hand — help
  24. spell — letters

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