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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: cold · mine · can · bound · cell · root · land · pound

  1. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  2. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  3. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. That was ________________ to happen.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  24. ________________ you help me carry this box?

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

Answer key

  1. pound — to hit hard
  2. bound — obliged
  3. can — a tin
  4. cell — a phone
  5. cold — an illness
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. bound — tied together
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. bound — certain
  10. cell — in biology
  11. pound — a weight
  12. mine — for digging
  13. land — ground
  14. root — of a word
  15. cold — not warm
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. root — the cause
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. can — a tin
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. land — a country
  22. land — to come down
  23. root — of a plant
  24. can — to be able to

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