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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. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  2. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  3. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  4. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Have you found your soul ________________?
  10. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. The ________________ took off on time.
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  18. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. Did you ________________ the meat?
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. That was ________________ to happen.
  23. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — obliged
  2. season — in sport
  3. plane — in geometry
  4. board — a committee
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. cold — an illness
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. cold — not warm
  9. mate — a partner
  10. board — a flat piece
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. plane — an aircraft
  14. bound — tied together
  15. plane — a tool
  16. mate — a friend
  17. mate — to breed
  18. season — of the year
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. season — to add flavour
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. bound — certain
  23. board — to get on
  24. straw — a straw man

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