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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 116 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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  17. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  18. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  19. That was ________________ to happen.
  20. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. leaves — of a tree
  4. cold — an illness
  5. bound — tied together
  6. degree — temperature
  7. leaves — to go away
  8. spring — the season
  9. bound — obliged
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. chair — a leader
  12. spring — of water
  13. cold — not warm
  14. degree — an amount
  15. degree — from a university
  16. leaves — lets stay
  17. lean — to bend
  18. lean — to rest against
  19. bound — certain
  20. lean — thin
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. wound — an injury
  23. wound — an injury
  24. spring — a coil

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