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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. The water is too ________________.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  14. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. That was ________________ to happen.
  22. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — obliged
  2. cold — not warm
  3. present — a gift
  4. bound — tied together
  5. row — to paddle
  6. stock — goods
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. stock — shares
  11. row — a line
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. deal — a big deal
  14. patient — calm and waiting
  15. present — there
  16. cold — an illness
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. deal — an agreement
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. bound — certain
  22. deal — to handle
  23. present — the time now
  24. bat — the animal

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