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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  3. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  4. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. This piece is in a major ________________.
  10. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  11. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  12. That was ________________ to happen.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  21. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. bound — obliged
  3. key — the most important part
  4. pound — a weight
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. land — ground
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. cell — a phone
  9. key — in music
  10. key — for a lock
  11. pound — for dogs
  12. bound — certain
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. land — a country
  15. cell — in biology
  16. cap — a hat
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. pound — to hit hard
  19. cold — not warm
  20. bound — tied together
  21. cap — of ice
  22. mine — for digging
  23. cold — an illness
  24. cap — a lid

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