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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: rule · cold · wound · bound · mouse · kid · spell · perch

  1. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  4. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  18. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  21. That was ________________ to happen.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. rule — government
  5. perch — the fish
  6. rule — to rule out
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. kid — child
  9. bound — tied together
  10. cold — not warm
  11. spell — a short time
  12. mouse — for a computer
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. spell — magic
  15. kid — to tease
  16. spell — letters
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. bound — obliged
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. rule — a law
  21. bound — certain
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. wound — an injury
  24. cold — an illness

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