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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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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: wake · prune · content · pound · cell · band · charge · bound

  1. That was ________________ to happen.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  23. The tickets are free of ________________.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — certain
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. band — a music group
  5. prune — to trim
  6. content — happy
  7. charge — electricity
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. cell — a phone
  10. bound — obliged
  11. cell — in biology
  12. wake — a trail
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. bound — tied together
  15. band — a ring
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. charge — in control
  20. prune — to trim
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. pound — a weight
  23. charge — a price
  24. content — the amount

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