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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. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — obliged
  2. wake — a trail
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. degree — from a university
  5. bound — certain
  6. degree — temperature
  7. bound — tied together
  8. spring — of water
  9. spell — magic
  10. fork — in a road
  11. craft — a skill
  12. spell — letters
  13. mine — for digging
  14. craft — boats
  15. spring — the season
  16. spring — a coil
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. craft — a handicraft
  20. degree — an amount
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. spell — a short time
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. mine — an explosive

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