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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 120 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: bound · net · wind · pitcher · rule · craft · mine · file

  1. He is an ace ________________.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. That was ________________ to happen.
  8. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  9. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. net — after costs
  3. wind — moving air
  4. bound — obliged
  5. wind — moving air
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. bound — certain
  8. craft — boats
  9. bound — tied together
  10. file — a document
  11. craft — a handicraft
  12. file — a line of people
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. rule — a law
  16. file — a tool
  17. net — in sport
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. rule — government
  20. mine — for digging
  21. net — for catching
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. craft — a skill

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