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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: pound · bound · cold · dip · wind · drill · capital · club

  1. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. That was ________________ to happen.
  4. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  9. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  16. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  21. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — obliged
  2. wind — moving air
  3. bound — certain
  4. pound — to hit hard
  5. club — for golf
  6. wind — moving air
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. club — for dancing
  9. bound — tied together
  10. capital — money
  11. drill — the tool
  12. cold — an illness
  13. dip — to dunk
  14. pound — a weight
  15. dip — to sink
  16. pound — for dogs
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. cold — not warm
  19. capital — a city
  20. club — a group
  21. dip — a sauce
  22. drill — a practice
  23. drill — army training
  24. cold — the Cold War

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