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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: ground · bound · fork · cell · dip · cold · stand · field

  1. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  4. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. I can't ________________ this cold.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  21. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  22. That was ________________ to happen.
  23. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. ground — crushed
  3. bound — tied together
  4. stand — for spectators
  5. fork — in a road
  6. cold — not warm
  7. stand — on your feet
  8. ground — the earth
  9. stand — to bear
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. cold — an illness
  12. ground — a position
  13. fork — a garden tool
  14. field — a subject
  15. cell — in biology
  16. dip — to sink
  17. field — farmland
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. field — for sport
  20. dip — a sauce
  21. dip — to dunk
  22. bound — certain
  23. bound — obliged
  24. cold — the Cold War

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