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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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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 · row · cell · wind · tear · mouse · lean · bound

  1. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  2. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  10. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  13. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. That was ________________ to happen.
  16. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  17. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. He is as ________________ as a wolf.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to rest against
  2. bound — obliged
  3. row — a line
  4. wind — moving air
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. tear — from crying
  7. cell — a phone
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. pit — a hole
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. pit — a fruit stone
  13. lean — to bend
  14. bound — tied together
  15. bound — certain
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. mouse — for a computer
  18. tear — to rip
  19. tear — from crying
  20. wind — moving air
  21. pit — in a race
  22. row — to paddle
  23. cell — in biology
  24. lean — thin

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