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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
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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: fan · cold · pit · bound · bark · spell · rush · chair

  1. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  4. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  5. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  6. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  9. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. That was ________________ to happen.
  16. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. That must've been a ________________.
  23. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  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. spell — magic
  2. chair — a leader
  3. fan — to cool the air
  4. pit — in a race
  5. bound — obliged
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. spell — a short time
  8. pit — a hole
  9. pit — a fruit stone
  10. cold — not warm
  11. cold — an illness
  12. bound — tied together
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. spell — letters
  15. bound — certain
  16. rush — to hurry
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. bark — to shout
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. rush — a thrill
  23. fan — a supporter
  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