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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. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. That was ________________ to happen.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — obliged
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. bound — certain
  5. snap — to click
  6. kid — child
  7. kid — to tease
  8. cell — a phone
  9. last — to go on
  10. wound — an injury
  11. face — to confront
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. degree — from a university
  14. degree — temperature
  15. bound — tied together
  16. face — to point toward
  17. degree — an amount
  18. face — part of the head
  19. last — final
  20. cell — in biology
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. last — finally
  23. wound — an injury
  24. cell — in a prison

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