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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. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. That was ________________ to happen.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. How do you ________________ your surname?
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. bound — tied together
  3. sharp — clever
  4. spell — a short time
  5. row — a line
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. bound — certain
  8. row — to paddle
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. net — after costs
  11. bound — obliged
  12. chest — of your body
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. dip — to sink
  15. net — in sport
  16. chest — a box
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. dip — a sauce
  19. net — for catching
  20. dip — to dunk
  21. chest — of your body
  22. spell — letters
  23. wound — an injury
  24. spell — magic

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