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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 · bark · suit · season · cold · clip · current · wound

  1. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. Did you ________________ the meat?
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. That was ________________ to happen.
  10. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  11. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  12. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. When will it ________________ you to start?
  19. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. clip — for paper
  3. cold — not warm
  4. season — of the year
  5. season — to add flavour
  6. bark — to shout
  7. suit — clothes
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. bound — certain
  10. bound — obliged
  11. suit — in cards
  12. current — electric
  13. season — in sport
  14. current — happening now
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. current — of water
  17. wound — an injury
  18. suit — to fit
  19. bound — tied together
  20. clip — to cut
  21. clip — a video
  22. wound — an injury
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. cold — an illness

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