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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. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  2. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  3. That was ________________ to happen.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — tied together
  2. stick — to attach or keep to
  3. bound — certain
  4. land — ground
  5. bound — obliged
  6. court — for sport
  7. file — a document
  8. court — of law
  9. file — a line of people
  10. wound — an injury
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. band — a music group
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. sharp — clever
  17. band — a ring
  18. wound — an injury
  19. land — a country
  20. land — to come down
  21. stick — a piece of wood
  22. court — of a king
  23. file — a tool
  24. sharp — with an edge

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