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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: rock · net · rush · hand · pop · cold · row · bound

  1. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  6. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  9. That must've been a ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  19. That was ________________ to happen.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. I don't want to ________________ the boat.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. rock — music
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. net — in sport
  5. bound — tied together
  6. rock — a stone
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. rush — hurry
  9. rush — a thrill
  10. cold — not warm
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. pop — music
  13. rush — to hurry
  14. row — to paddle
  15. row — a line
  16. hand — help
  17. net — for catching
  18. bound — obliged
  19. bound — certain
  20. net — after costs
  21. cold — an illness
  22. hand — in cards
  23. pop — soda
  24. rock — to move gently

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