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

Word bank: cell · bound · hand · swing · kid · chair · hide · bark

  1. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. That was ________________ to happen.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. hide — animal skin
  4. kid — to tease
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. bound — tied together
  7. bark — to shout
  8. bound — obliged
  9. swing — music
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. bound — certain
  12. cell — a phone
  13. swing — to play on
  14. hand — in cards
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. chair — a leader
  17. swing — in golf
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. kid — child
  22. hand — help
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. cell — in biology

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