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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: land · bay · shower · bound · mine · pop · stem · deal

  1. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  4. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. My mare is ________________ in color.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  22. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  23. That was ________________ to happen.
  24. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — obliged
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. deal — an agreement
  4. deal — a big deal
  5. shower — rain
  6. bay — a horse colour
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. land — a country
  11. pop — to visit
  12. land — to come down
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. stem — to come from
  15. deal — to handle
  16. shower — to wash
  17. pop — music
  18. land — ground
  19. pop — soda
  20. mine — for digging
  21. bay — a part of the sea
  22. bound — tied together
  23. bound — certain
  24. bay — to keep at bay

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