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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. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. That was ________________ to happen.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. swing — to play on
  3. wind — moving air
  4. bound — tied together
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. bound — certain
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. swing — in golf
  10. bound — obliged
  11. hand — in cards
  12. last — to go on
  13. cap — a lid
  14. hand — help
  15. kid — child
  16. last — finally
  17. cell — in biology
  18. wind — moving air
  19. kid — to tease
  20. cell — a phone
  21. swing — music
  22. cap — a hat
  23. last — final
  24. wind — to turn a key

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