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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: capital · bound · cold · plane · roll · bat · net · pound

  1. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. We're on a ________________ here.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The ________________ took off on time.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  22. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  23. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  24. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. plane — a tool
  2. net — for catching
  3. pound — to hit hard
  4. net — after costs
  5. bound — certain
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. cold — an illness
  8. pound — a weight
  9. bat — the animal
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. bound — obliged
  12. cold — not warm
  13. capital — money
  14. plane — in geometry
  15. capital — a city
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. roll — on a roll
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. plane — an aircraft
  20. net — in sport
  21. roll — a list
  22. pound — for dogs
  23. bound — tied together
  24. roll — a cake

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