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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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Word bank
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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 ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. I can't ________________ this cold.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  11. That was ________________ to happen.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. wound — an injury
  3. kid — to tease
  4. stand — on your feet
  5. spell — a short time
  6. bound — tied together
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. stand — to bear
  9. spell — magic
  10. chip — to eat
  11. bound — certain
  12. degree — an amount
  13. chip — in a computer
  14. kid — child
  15. chip — for betting
  16. degree — from a university
  17. spell — letters
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. bound — obliged
  20. degree — temperature
  21. mine — for digging
  22. stand — for spectators
  23. wound — an injury
  24. mine — an explosive

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