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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: wound · bound · mine · cell · mate · staff · race · tear

  1. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. That was ________________ to happen.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  7. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. bound — certain
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. wound — an injury
  6. staff — employees
  7. bound — tied together
  8. tear — to rip
  9. mine — for digging
  10. race — humankind
  11. staff — a stick
  12. race — a contest
  13. bound — obliged
  14. mate — to breed
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. tear — from crying
  17. staff — employees
  18. cell — in biology
  19. cell — a phone
  20. race — the arms race
  21. mate — a friend
  22. wound — an injury
  23. tear — from crying
  24. mine — an explosive

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