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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: bound · jam · saw · fan · wound · cold · fork · mine

  1. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  3. That was ________________ to happen.
  4. He works in a ________________ mill.
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  11. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  17. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  18. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. bound — tied together
  3. bound — certain
  4. saw — the tool
  5. fork — in a road
  6. fan — to cool the air
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. jam — in traffic
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. cold — not warm
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. saw — the tool
  16. jam — a tight spot
  17. bound — obliged
  18. jam — to spread on bread
  19. wound — an injury
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. wound — an injury
  23. cold — an illness
  24. fork — to eat 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