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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: bark · cold · mine · spell · bound · race · wake · mate

  1. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Have you found your soul ________________?
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. That was ________________ to happen.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. mine — for digging
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. wake — a trail
  6. spell — letters
  7. bound — obliged
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. cold — not warm
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. mate — a friend
  14. spell — a short time
  15. bound — tied together
  16. bark — to shout
  17. race — a contest
  18. race — humankind
  19. cold — an illness
  20. mate — a partner
  21. spell — magic
  22. race — the arms race
  23. bound — certain
  24. mine — belonging to me

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