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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. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. Have you settled on a ________________?
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  18. That was ________________ to happen.
  19. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  20. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  21. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — tied together
  2. row — a line
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. ground — the earth
  5. jam — a tight spot
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. game — wild animals
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. object — a thing
  10. game — a match
  11. ground — a position
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. ground — crushed
  15. date — the fruit
  16. wound — an injury
  17. object — to protest
  18. bound — certain
  19. jam — in traffic
  20. jam — to spread on bread
  21. object — an aim
  22. wound — an injury
  23. bound — obliged
  24. row — to paddle

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