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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: spell · degree · bound · stock · cold · roll · drill · ground

  1. That was ________________ to happen.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. We're on a ________________ here.
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. bound — certain
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. cold — an illness
  4. spell — letters
  5. drill — the tool
  6. drill — a practice
  7. spell — a short time
  8. roll — a list
  9. spell — magic
  10. cold — not warm
  11. ground — the earth
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. roll — on a roll
  14. bound — obliged
  15. ground — crushed
  16. roll — a cake
  17. stock — goods
  18. degree — from a university
  19. drill — army training
  20. stock — shares
  21. degree — temperature
  22. bound — tied together
  23. ground — a position
  24. degree — an amount

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