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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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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 · cold · pop · court · cell · present · rush · hide

  1. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. That was ________________ to happen.
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  9. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  10. That must've been a ________________.
  11. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  15. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?

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

Answer key

  1. pop — music
  2. court — of law
  3. bound — certain
  4. pop — to visit
  5. rush — hurry
  6. cold — an illness
  7. cell — a phone
  8. present — the time now
  9. present — a gift
  10. rush — a thrill
  11. hide — animal skin
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. bound — tied together
  14. rush — to hurry
  15. bound — obliged
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. court — of a king
  18. cold — not warm
  19. pop — soda
  20. present — there
  21. cell — in biology
  22. court — for sport
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. hide — to keep secret

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