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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. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  14. The King held a masked ________________.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. That was ________________ to happen.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — obliged
  2. tube — the underground
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. land — to come down
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. land — ground
  7. bound — tied together
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. tube — a container
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. wake — a trail
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. ball — a great time
  14. ball — a dance
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. wound — an injury
  17. wound — an injury
  18. band — a ring
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. band — a music group
  21. land — a country
  22. wind — moving air
  23. wind — moving air
  24. bound — certain

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