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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. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  2. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  10. That was ________________ to happen.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  18. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  22. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — a law
  2. mouse — for a computer
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. tear — from crying
  5. cold — an illness
  6. tear — to rip
  7. wound — an injury
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. bound — obliged
  10. bound — certain
  11. tear — from crying
  12. bound — tied together
  13. hand — in cards
  14. hand — help
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. mouse — the animal
  19. bark — to shout
  20. cold — not warm
  21. rule — government
  22. rule — to rule out
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. wound — an injury

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