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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. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. That was ________________ to happen.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. file — a line of people
  3. wound — an injury
  4. bound — obliged
  5. branch — a division
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. file — a tool
  8. bound — tied together
  9. chair — a leader
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. mine — for digging
  12. fine — a penalty
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. snap — to click
  17. fine — all right
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. file — a document
  23. wound — an injury
  24. bound — certain

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