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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: content · lash · court · bound · pound · temple · spring · straw

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  4. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  5. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  6. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. When was this ________________ built?
  23. That was ________________ to happen.
  24. The spa offers ________________ extensions.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. spring — of water
  3. bound — obliged
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. bound — tied together
  6. pound — a weight
  7. court — for sport
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. lash — a whip stroke
  11. court — of a king
  12. lash — to lash out
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. temple — side of the head
  15. content — the amount
  16. spring — a coil
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. pound — to hit hard
  20. spring — the season
  21. court — of law
  22. temple — a place of worship
  23. bound — certain
  24. lash — an eyelash

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