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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. I'll be taking the ________________.
  2. That was ________________ to happen.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  5. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  6. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. Did you ________________ the meat?
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. bound — certain
  3. degree — an amount
  4. fine — a penalty
  5. bound — obliged
  6. fine — high quality
  7. season — of the year
  8. wound — an injury
  9. fine — all right
  10. wound — an injury
  11. wind — moving air
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. wind — moving air
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. degree — from a university
  16. degree — temperature
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. tube — a container
  20. bound — tied together
  21. snap — to click
  22. season — to add flavour
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. season — in sport

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