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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: net · drill · bound · cold · saw · deal · row · swing

  1. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  2. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. That was ________________ to happen.
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — obliged
  2. bound — tied together
  3. saw — the tool
  4. row — a line
  5. deal — an agreement
  6. cold — not warm
  7. drill — the tool
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. swing — in golf
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. row — to paddle
  12. cold — an illness
  13. drill — a practice
  14. saw — the tool
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. net — after costs
  17. drill — army training
  18. deal — to handle
  19. net — for catching
  20. swing — music
  21. bound — certain
  22. net — in sport
  23. deal — a big deal
  24. swing — to play on

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