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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. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  12. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  13. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — obliged
  2. drill — the tool
  3. staff — employees
  4. ball — a dance
  5. bound — certain
  6. spring — a coil
  7. ball — a great time
  8. march — music
  9. kid — child
  10. spring — the season
  11. wave — with your hand
  12. bound — tied together
  13. staff — employees
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. wave — of the sea
  16. march — the month
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. staff — a stick
  19. march — the month
  20. drill — a practice
  21. kid — to tease
  22. drill — army training
  23. spring — of water
  24. wave — a sudden rise

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