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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: cold · leaves · bound · row · march · date

  1. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. That was ________________ to happen.
  4. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  11. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  15. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  16. Have you settled on a ________________?
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. 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. march — the month
  2. cold — not warm
  3. bound — certain
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. row — a line
  7. cold — an illness
  8. bound — obliged
  9. march — music
  10. leaves — to go away
  11. leaves — of a tree
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. march — the month
  14. date — the fruit
  15. leaves — lets stay
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. row — to paddle
  18. 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