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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.

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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. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  15. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  16. That was ________________ to happen.
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. The King held a masked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — obliged
  2. land — to come down
  3. bound — tied together
  4. land — a country
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. shower — to wash
  7. ball — a great time
  8. dip — a sauce
  9. shower — rain
  10. clip — to cut
  11. clip — for paper
  12. land — ground
  13. clip — a video
  14. ball — a round shape
  15. dip — to dunk
  16. bound — certain
  17. dip — to sink
  18. ball — a dance

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