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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 120 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. That was ________________ to happen.
  3. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  7. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. You don't need to ________________ round.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  19. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — obliged
  2. bound — certain
  3. bound — tied together
  4. degree — from a university
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. scale — in music
  7. pit — a hole
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. pop — music
  10. cold — not warm
  11. pop — soda
  12. pop — to visit
  13. scale — size or range
  14. cold — an illness
  15. sharp — clever
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. pit — in a race
  19. patient — calm and waiting
  20. degree — temperature
  21. pit — a fruit stone
  22. degree — an amount
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. patient — a sick person

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