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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. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. Have you settled on a ________________?
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  19. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  22. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  23. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  24. That was ________________ to happen.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — obliged
  2. content — happy
  3. spring — the season
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. land — ground
  6. bound — tied together
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. content — the amount
  9. current — of water
  10. land — to come down
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. cold — not warm
  13. lash — a whip stroke
  14. spring — of water
  15. land — a country
  16. spring — a coil
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. date — the fruit
  19. lash — an eyelash
  20. cold — an illness
  21. current — electric
  22. lash — to lash out
  23. current — happening now
  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