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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: court · cold · roll · suit · tear · bound · cell · bowl

  1. When will it ________________ you to start?
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. That was ________________ to happen.
  4. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  5. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  6. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  7. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  10. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  13. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  14. We're on a ________________ here.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. suit — to fit
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. bound — certain
  4. bound — obliged
  5. suit — clothes
  6. bound — tied together
  7. bowl — a football final
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. bowl — a dish
  10. roll — a list
  11. court — of a king
  12. bowl — to roll
  13. roll — a cake
  14. roll — on a roll
  15. tear — from crying
  16. court — of law
  17. suit — in cards
  18. tear — from crying
  19. cell — a phone
  20. court — for sport
  21. cold — an illness
  22. cold — not warm
  23. cell — in biology
  24. tear — to rip

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