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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: net · present · cold · root · chest · drill · march · bound

  1. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. That was ________________ to happen.
  5. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — tied together
  2. chest — of your body
  3. chest — a box
  4. bound — certain
  5. present — a gift
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. drill — the tool
  8. root — of a plant
  9. cold — not warm
  10. march — the month
  11. chest — of your body
  12. root — of a word
  13. present — the time now
  14. drill — a practice
  15. net — after costs
  16. bound — obliged
  17. net — for catching
  18. drill — army training
  19. root — the cause
  20. cold — an illness
  21. march — the month
  22. march — music
  23. net — in sport
  24. present — there

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