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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: march · bound · bore · pop · perch · key · mine · cold

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  3. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. This piece is in a major ________________.
  11. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  12. You don't need to ________________ round.
  13. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. That was ________________ to happen.
  18. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. bore — to tire
  3. bore — gave birth
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. cold — an illness
  6. pop — music
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. march — the month
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. key — in music
  11. bore — to drill
  12. pop — to visit
  13. key — the most important part
  14. bound — tied together
  15. march — the month
  16. mine — for digging
  17. bound — certain
  18. bound — obliged
  19. pop — soda
  20. perch — the fish
  21. march — music
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. key — for a lock

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