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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. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. That was ________________ to happen.
  3. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  6. Have you settled on a ________________?
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  14. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. bound — certain
  3. lean — to rest against
  4. spring — of water
  5. bound — obliged
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. wound — an injury
  9. spring — the season
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. spring — a coil
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. lean — thin
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. bound — tied together
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. date — the fruit
  21. wound — an injury
  22. patient — calm and waiting
  23. mine — for digging
  24. lean — to bend

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