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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. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  2. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  9. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  10. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  11. That was ________________ to happen.
  12. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  17. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. This piece is in a major ________________.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  24. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — obliged
  2. bank — of a river
  3. chest — of your body
  4. key — the most important part
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. cold — an illness
  7. kid — child
  8. bank — for money
  9. current — electric
  10. key — for a lock
  11. bound — certain
  12. current — happening now
  13. kid — to tease
  14. bound — tied together
  15. chest — of your body
  16. current — of water
  17. club — for golf
  18. cold — not warm
  19. key — in music
  20. chest — a box
  21. club — for dancing
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. club — a group
  24. bank — for money

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