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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: pit · roll · jam · mark · bound · wound · file · content

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  7. We're on a ________________ here.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  10. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  11. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  12. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  13. That was ________________ to happen.
  14. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  22. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  23. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  24. Tom got himself in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. jam — to spread on bread
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. pit — a hole
  6. bound — tied together
  7. roll — on a roll
  8. wound — an injury
  9. bound — obliged
  10. mark — to pay attention
  11. mark — a grade
  12. pit — a fruit stone
  13. bound — certain
  14. roll — a cake
  15. file — a document
  16. pit — in a race
  17. wound — an injury
  18. file — a line of people
  19. file — a tool
  20. content — the amount
  21. jam — in traffic
  22. roll — a list
  23. mark — a trace
  24. jam — a tight spot

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