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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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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 · cap · land · cell · bound · rule · row · net

  1. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  19. That was ________________ to happen.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — tied together
  2. net — in sport
  3. rule — government
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. rule — to rule out
  6. cap — of ice
  7. rule — a law
  8. land — a country
  9. cap — a lid
  10. land — ground
  11. net — after costs
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. cold — an illness
  14. land — to come down
  15. cell — a phone
  16. row — to paddle
  17. row — a line
  18. bound — obliged
  19. bound — certain
  20. net — for catching
  21. cell — in biology
  22. cap — a hat
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. cold — not warm

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