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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: content · kick · rush · saw · drill · cold · bark · bound

  1. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. That must've been a ________________.
  22. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  23. That was ________________ to happen.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — tied together
  2. content — the amount
  3. bark — to shout
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. rush — hurry
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. cold — an illness
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. content — happy
  10. cold — not warm
  11. saw — the tool
  12. kick — a thrill
  13. drill — a practice
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. drill — the tool
  16. rush — to hurry
  17. kick — in football
  18. drill — army training
  19. saw — the tool
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. rush — a thrill
  22. bound — obliged
  23. bound — certain
  24. cold — the Cold War

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