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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: spring · bound · hand · stock · wound · wax · stick · chair

  1. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. That was ________________ to happen.
  19. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. The ________________ market has crashed.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — tied together
  2. chair — a leader
  3. hand — help
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. spring — of water
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. wound — an injury
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. hand — in cards
  10. wound — an injury
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. wax — to grow
  13. stock — goods
  14. spring — the season
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. bound — certain
  19. stick — to attach or keep to
  20. spring — a coil
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. bound — obliged
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. stock — shares

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