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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. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. That was ________________ to happen.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. The ________________ took off on time.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — obliged
  2. pop — to visit
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. bound — tied together
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. fan — to cool the air
  8. pop — soda
  9. chest — of your body
  10. squash — the sport
  11. spring — the season
  12. wound — an injury
  13. chest — of your body
  14. wound — an injury
  15. plane — a tool
  16. squash — to crush
  17. bound — certain
  18. spring — of water
  19. pop — music
  20. spring — a coil
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. plane — an aircraft
  23. chest — a box
  24. plane — in geometry

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