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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: object · pound · bound · field · capital · cold · arm · squash

  1. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. That was ________________ to happen.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  6. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  7. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  8. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  17. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  18. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  21. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  22. My father caught me by the ________________.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. bound — certain
  4. field — a subject
  5. object — an aim
  6. arm — a part of something
  7. bound — obliged
  8. pound — to hit hard
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. squash — the sport
  11. cold — not warm
  12. cold — an illness
  13. squash — to crush
  14. field — for sport
  15. capital — a city
  16. pound — for dogs
  17. object — a thing
  18. bound — tied together
  19. field — farmland
  20. object — to protest
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. pound — a weight
  24. capital — money

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