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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. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  7. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  8. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  9. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  10. My father caught me by the ________________.
  11. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. That was ________________ to happen.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. When was this ________________ built?

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. squash — to crush
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. bound — obliged
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. arm — a part of something
  8. temple — side of the head
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. bound — tied together
  12. scale — size or range
  13. cell — a phone
  14. cold — not warm
  15. bound — certain
  16. cold — an illness
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. scale — in music
  19. squash — the sport
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. bark — to shout
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. cell — in biology
  24. temple — a place of worship

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