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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: mine · mouse · land · bound · roll · jam · cold · band

  1. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  2. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  8. We're on a ________________ here.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. That was ________________ to happen.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  17. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  18. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  22. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — obliged
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. land — ground
  4. land — to come down
  5. bound — tied together
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. roll — a list
  8. roll — on a roll
  9. cold — an illness
  10. band — a music group
  11. bound — certain
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. cold — not warm
  14. jam — to spread on bread
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. mouse — for a computer
  17. jam — a tight spot
  18. jam — in traffic
  19. land — a country
  20. band — a ring
  21. roll — a cake
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. mine — for digging

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