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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: temple · pound · degree · patient · saw · cold · land · bound

  1. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  2. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  3. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. That was ________________ to happen.
  12. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  13. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  19. She's very handy with a ________________.
  20. When was this ________________ built?
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — obliged
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. temple — side of the head
  4. cold — not warm
  5. saw — the tool
  6. cold — an illness
  7. degree — from a university
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. degree — an amount
  10. land — to come down
  11. bound — certain
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. pound — for dogs
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. land — ground
  16. pound — to hit hard
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. bound — tied together
  19. saw — the tool
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. land — a country
  22. pound — a weight
  23. degree — temperature
  24. cold — the Cold War

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