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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 116 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: content · bound · face · perch · club · race · dip · cold

  1. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. That was ________________ to happen.
  16. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  17. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  20. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — obliged
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. race — humankind
  4. dip — a sauce
  5. perch — the fish
  6. face — part of the head
  7. face — to confront
  8. dip — to sink
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. content — happy
  11. race — a contest
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. cold — an illness
  15. bound — certain
  16. club — for golf
  17. bound — tied together
  18. face — to point toward
  19. club — a group
  20. club — for dancing
  21. cold — not warm
  22. race — the arms race
  23. dip — to dunk
  24. content — the 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