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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: bulb · pound · field · cold · bound · chip · straw · sharp

  1. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  5. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  6. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  10. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  17. That was ________________ to happen.
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  19. I've got to change the light ________________.
  20. The light ________________ burned out.
  21. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. pound — a weight
  3. field — farmland
  4. chip — to eat
  5. bound — tied together
  6. bulb — of a plant
  7. cold — an illness
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. chip — in a computer
  10. bound — obliged
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. field — for sport
  15. cold — not warm
  16. pound — for dogs
  17. bound — certain
  18. pound — to hit hard
  19. bulb — for light
  20. bulb — for light
  21. chip — for betting
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. field — a subject
  24. sharp — with an edge

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