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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: trunk · bound · tear · game · bear · cold · lie · rule

  1. That was a fun ________________.
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. That was ________________ to happen.
  12. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  17. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  22. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. tear — to rip
  4. bear — the animal
  5. cold — not warm
  6. tear — from crying
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. bound — obliged
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. bound — certain
  12. rule — government
  13. tear — from crying
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. bound — tied together
  16. rule — a law
  17. bear — the animal
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. cold — an illness
  21. bear — to put up with
  22. rule — to rule out
  23. game — wild animals
  24. lie — to recline

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