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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: cold · ground · bound · racket · pitcher · cap · clip · rash

  1. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. That was ________________ to happen.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — obliged
  2. cap — a hat
  3. bound — certain
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. clip — to cut
  8. rash — hasty
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. clip — a video
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. ground — the earth
  15. bound — tied together
  16. ground — a position
  17. racket — a loud noise
  18. cap — a lid
  19. cold — an illness
  20. clip — for paper
  21. rash — a series
  22. ground — crushed
  23. cold — not warm
  24. cap — of ice

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