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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. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  2. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. That was ________________ to happen.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — obliged
  2. wake — a trail
  3. spring — the season
  4. wind — moving air
  5. snap — to click
  6. mate — a partner
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. file — a document
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. mate — a friend
  12. bound — tied together
  13. file — a tool
  14. court — for sport
  15. spring — a coil
  16. mate — to breed
  17. court — of a king
  18. wind — moving air
  19. bound — certain
  20. court — of law
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. spring — of water
  23. file — a line of people
  24. wind — to turn a key

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