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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 120 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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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: stem · row · file · deal · bound · cold · field · pound

  1. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. That was ________________ to happen.
  5. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  6. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — obliged
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. cold — not warm
  4. bound — certain
  5. pound — a weight
  6. deal — to handle
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. pound — for dogs
  12. file — a tool
  13. file — a line of people
  14. deal — a big deal
  15. file — a document
  16. field — for sport
  17. bound — tied together
  18. row — a line
  19. row — to paddle
  20. deal — an agreement
  21. field — farmland
  22. field — a subject
  23. cold — an illness
  24. stem — to come from

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