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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. That was ________________ to happen.
  3. That must've been a ________________.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  24. He has no idea where the ________________ is.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. bound — certain
  3. rush — a thrill
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. safe — out of danger
  7. hand — in cards
  8. spring — of water
  9. degree — temperature
  10. wind — moving air
  11. bound — tied together
  12. hand — help
  13. wake — a trail
  14. degree — an amount
  15. safe — out of danger
  16. spring — a coil
  17. spring — the season
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. degree — from a university
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. wind — moving air
  23. bound — obliged
  24. safe — a strongbox

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