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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: ground · tear · net · spring · kid · bound · march · staff

  1. That was ________________ to happen.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — certain
  2. tear — from crying
  3. tear — to rip
  4. march — the month
  5. spring — of water
  6. ground — a position
  7. net — for catching
  8. tear — from crying
  9. kid — child
  10. staff — employees
  11. kid — to tease
  12. staff — a stick
  13. bound — tied together
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. ground — the earth
  16. spring — the season
  17. staff — employees
  18. net — in sport
  19. net — after costs
  20. ground — crushed
  21. bound — obliged
  22. spring — a coil
  23. march — the month
  24. march — music

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