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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 116 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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. What do you think of the new ________________?
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  20. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  23. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  24. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — certain
  2. kid — to tease
  3. bound — obliged
  4. net — after costs
  5. wave — a sudden rise
  6. net — in sport
  7. file — a document
  8. kid — child
  9. wave — with your hand
  10. net — for catching
  11. file — a tool
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. prune — to trim
  14. tear — from crying
  15. tear — from crying
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. file — a line of people
  19. bound — tied together
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. tear — to rip
  22. wave — of the sea
  23. cabinet — a cupboard
  24. prune — to trim

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