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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. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  12. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. That was ________________ to happen.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — tied together
  2. prune — to trim
  3. bear — the animal
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. cold — an illness
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. capital — a city
  8. bear — to put up with
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. capital — money
  11. bear — the animal
  12. bound — obliged
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. net — in sport
  15. cold — not warm
  16. pound — to hit hard
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. prune — to trim
  19. pound — a weight
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. net — for catching
  22. net — after costs
  23. bound — certain
  24. straw — a straw man

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