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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: land · deal · last · race · bound · arm · file · bear

  1. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  7. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  8. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  9. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. My father caught me by the ________________.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. That was ________________ to happen.
  23. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  24. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!

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

Answer key

  1. bound — obliged
  2. last — final
  3. land — a country
  4. deal — an agreement
  5. land — ground
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. deal — to handle
  8. bear — the animal
  9. bear — the animal
  10. race — a contest
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. last — finally
  13. race — the arms race
  14. file — a tool
  15. bound — tied together
  16. file — a document
  17. last — to go on
  18. arm — a part of something
  19. land — to come down
  20. file — a line of people
  21. race — humankind
  22. bound — certain
  23. deal — a big deal
  24. bear — to put up with

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