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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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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: bound · chest · leaves · wind · sharp · spell

  1. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. That was ________________ to happen.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  13. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. The train ________________ at six o'clock.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. leaves — of a tree
  3. spell — a short time
  4. wind — moving air
  5. wind — moving air
  6. bound — certain
  7. sharp — clever
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. bound — tied together
  10. spell — letters
  11. chest — of your body
  12. bound — obliged
  13. leaves — lets stay
  14. spell — magic
  15. chest — of your body
  16. chest — a box
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. leaves — to go away

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