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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 120 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: bound · net · rush · tube · content · mine · game · bat

  1. That was ________________ to happen.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. That must've been a ________________.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  23. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — certain
  2. tube — the underground
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. game — a match
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. mine — for digging
  7. content — happy
  8. content — the amount
  9. game — wild animals
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. tube — a container
  13. net — for catching
  14. bound — obliged
  15. bat — the animal
  16. net — after costs
  17. rush — a thrill
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. net — in sport
  20. bound — tied together
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. tube — in a tire
  23. rush — hurry
  24. bat — in an idiom

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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