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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. That was ________________ to happen.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. The ________________ took off on time.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — certain
  2. content — happy
  3. kid — to tease
  4. spell — a short time
  5. bound — obliged
  6. wake — a trail
  7. kid — child
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. plane — in geometry
  11. content — the amount
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. capital — money
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. plane — a tool
  17. capital — a city
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. spell — letters
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. plane — an aircraft
  23. spell — magic
  24. bound — tied together

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