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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. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  10. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. That was ________________ to happen.
  24. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — obliged
  2. bound — tied together
  3. game — a match
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. cold — an illness
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. tear — to rip
  8. shower — to wash
  9. current — of water
  10. current — happening now
  11. shower — rain
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. capital — a city
  14. tear — from crying
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. game — wild animals
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. sharp — clever
  19. capital — money
  20. tear — from crying
  21. cold — not warm
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. bound — certain
  24. current — electric

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