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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. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  8. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  18. That was ________________ to happen.
  19. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. We have nothing to ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — obliged
  2. drill — army training
  3. pit — a fruit stone
  4. cold — an illness
  5. wind — moving air
  6. pop — to visit
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. pit — in a race
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. drill — the tool
  11. pop — soda
  12. cold — not warm
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. wind — moving air
  15. pop — music
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. pit — a hole
  18. bound — certain
  19. bound — tied together
  20. drill — a practice
  21. row — a line
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. row — to paddle
  24. hide — to keep secret

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