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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: ball · bark · dip · bound · clip · fall · chair · cold

  1. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  2. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. That was ________________ to happen.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — the season
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. bound — obliged
  4. fall — to drop
  5. ball — a dance
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. cold — not warm
  8. bound — certain
  9. fall — to drop
  10. clip — for paper
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. ball — a great time
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. dip — a sauce
  16. clip — a video
  17. chair — a leader
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. clip — to cut
  20. cold — an illness
  21. dip — to sink
  22. bark — to shout
  23. bound — tied together
  24. chair — to sit on

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