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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 120 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. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  22. That was ________________ to happen.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — obliged
  2. stem — to come from
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. cap — of ice
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. club — for dancing
  7. bat — the animal
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. cap — a lid
  10. capital — a city
  11. shower — to wash
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. cap — a hat
  15. bound — tied together
  16. shower — rain
  17. game — wild animals
  18. game — a match
  19. club — a group
  20. capital — money
  21. club — for golf
  22. bound — certain
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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