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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. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. That was ________________ to happen.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  6. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  14. I can't ________________ this cold.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. kid — child
  3. bound — certain
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. bound — obliged
  6. stand — for spectators
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. march — the month
  10. march — music
  11. spell — a short time
  12. spell — magic
  13. stand — on your feet
  14. stand — to bear
  15. bound — tied together
  16. mine — for digging
  17. march — the month
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. kid — to tease
  20. capital — money
  21. wound — an injury
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. capital — a city
  24. spell — letters

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