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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.

Make a worksheet

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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. That was ________________ to happen.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. bound — certain
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. spell — letters
  5. march — the month
  6. bound — tied together
  7. cold — an illness
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. bound — obliged
  10. spell — magic
  11. spell — a short time
  12. march — music
  13. capital — money
  14. march — the month
  15. capital — a city
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. cold — not warm
  18. mine — for digging

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