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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: bowl · cold · pass · cell · mate · foot · bound · land

  1. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  3. That was ________________ to happen.
  4. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  7. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  8. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  19. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  20. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  21. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. bound — tied together
  3. bound — certain
  4. bound — obliged
  5. cold — an illness
  6. pass — to succeed
  7. pass — a permit
  8. foot — part of the body
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. pass — to spend time
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. land — to come down
  13. mate — a friend
  14. bowl — to roll
  15. cell — in biology
  16. land — ground
  17. cell — a phone
  18. foot — the bottom
  19. foot — a measure
  20. bowl — a dish
  21. bowl — a football final
  22. mate — to breed
  23. cold — not warm
  24. land — a country

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