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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 120 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: bound · staff · fork · march · bark · cell · hand · lie

  1. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  2. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  3. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. That was ________________ to happen.
  9. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  19. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  20. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  21. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. lie — an untruth
  3. fork — in a road
  4. cell — a phone
  5. bark — to shout
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. hand — in cards
  8. bound — certain
  9. lie — to recline
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. march — the month
  12. march — the month
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. staff — employees
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. hand — help
  17. march — music
  18. bound — obliged
  19. bound — tied together
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. staff — a stick
  22. cell — in biology
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. hand — part of the body

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