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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  11. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  12. That was ________________ to happen.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. We're on a ________________ here.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — obliged
  2. hand — help
  3. land — ground
  4. bound — tied together
  5. band — a ring
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. land — to come down
  8. tear — from crying
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. roll — a cake
  11. roll — a list
  12. bound — certain
  13. tear — to rip
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. roll — on a roll
  18. bat — the animal
  19. hand — in cards
  20. tear — from crying
  21. band — a music group
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. land — a country

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