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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: spring · bound · saw · chest · kick · mug · game · file

  1. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. That was ________________ to happen.
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. Where did you ________________ them?
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  8. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  9. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. bound — certain
  3. saw — the tool
  4. mug — to rob
  5. spring — a coil
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. bound — tied together
  8. mug — a cup
  9. bound — obliged
  10. file — a document
  11. file — a line of people
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. chest — of your body
  14. file — a tool
  15. chest — of your body
  16. game — a match
  17. mug — a face
  18. saw — the tool
  19. game — wild animals
  20. spring — of water
  21. kick — in football
  22. spring — the season
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. chest — a box

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