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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: ruler · cold · bound · bark · band · row · chair · rush

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. That was ________________ to happen.
  3. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  8. That must've been a ________________.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  12. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. Take your time. There's no ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. bound — certain
  3. bound — obliged
  4. row — a line
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. cold — an illness
  7. ruler — for measuring
  8. rush — a thrill
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. ruler — for measuring
  12. rush — to hurry
  13. bark — to shout
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. ruler — a monarch
  16. band — a music group
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. row — to paddle
  19. band — a ring
  20. bound — tied together
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. chair — a leader
  24. rush — hurry

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