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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. That was ________________ to happen.
  2. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  22. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. The train ________________ at six o'clock.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — certain
  2. ball — a dance
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. ball — a great time
  5. bound — obliged
  6. spring — a coil
  7. content — happy
  8. spring — of water
  9. leaves — lets stay
  10. content — the amount
  11. file — a tool
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. present — there
  14. file — a document
  15. present — the time now
  16. spring — the season
  17. leaves — of a tree
  18. file — a line of people
  19. bound — tied together
  20. wake — a trail
  21. present — a gift
  22. ball — a round shape
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. leaves — to go away

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