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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. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  5. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  6. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  7. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  8. My father caught me by the ________________.
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. That was ________________ to happen.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. spring — a coil
  3. file — a document
  4. bound — tied together
  5. pound — to hit hard
  6. object — a thing
  7. pound — a weight
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. wound — an injury
  12. arm — a part of something
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. bound — obliged
  15. spring — of water
  16. object — an aim
  17. wind — moving air
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. bound — certain
  20. spring — the season
  21. wind — moving air
  22. file — a line of people
  23. wound — an injury
  24. file — a tool

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