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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. That was ________________ to happen.
  2. He works in a ________________ mill.
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — certain
  2. saw — the tool
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. saw — the tool
  5. net — in sport
  6. bound — obliged
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. cold — an illness
  9. firm — steady
  10. spell — magic
  11. cold — not warm
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. fork — in a road
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. firm — a company
  16. net — after costs
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. cell — a phone
  19. firm — decided
  20. spell — a short time
  21. spell — letters
  22. net — for catching
  23. cell — in biology
  24. bound — tied together

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