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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. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  3. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  11. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  12. Have you found your soul ________________?
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — certain
  2. cap — of ice
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. march — music
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. bound — obliged
  7. bound — tied together
  8. cold — not warm
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. mate — to breed
  11. cap — a hat
  12. mate — a partner
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. march — the month
  15. stick — to attach or keep to
  16. cap — a lid
  17. cold — an illness
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. mate — a friend
  20. bat — the animal
  21. march — the month
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. mine — for digging

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