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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: tear · bound · squash · patient · cold · ball · cell · court

  1. That was ________________ to happen.
  2. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  20. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — certain
  2. bound — obliged
  3. cell — in biology
  4. ball — a dance
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. bound — tied together
  7. cold — not warm
  8. ball — a great time
  9. court — for sport
  10. tear — from crying
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. cold — an illness
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. tear — to rip
  16. court — of law
  17. court — of a king
  18. tear — from crying
  19. patient — calm and waiting
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. squash — to crush
  22. squash — the sport
  23. cell — a phone
  24. squash — the vegetable

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