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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: wound · bound · ball · wake · rash · rest · bat · bear

  1. That was ________________ to happen.
  2. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  15. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  16. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  19. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — certain
  2. ball — a dance
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. bear — the animal
  6. rash — hasty
  7. bound — tied together
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. bat — the animal
  12. ball — a great time
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. bear — the animal
  15. rest — what's left
  16. wake — a trail
  17. wound — an injury
  18. bear — to put up with
  19. rest — a break
  20. wound — an injury
  21. bound — obliged
  22. rash — a series
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. rest — what's left

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