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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: ground · cold · saw · pop · swing · trunk · object · bound

  1. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. That was ________________ to happen.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  9. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. She's very handy with a ________________.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. bound — certain
  3. cold — an illness
  4. pop — music
  5. ground — a position
  6. object — an aim
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. bound — obliged
  9. bound — tied together
  10. ground — crushed
  11. swing — in golf
  12. swing — to play on
  13. ground — the earth
  14. saw — the tool
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. pop — soda
  17. pop — to visit
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. object — a thing
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. saw — past of 'see'
  22. cold — not warm
  23. saw — the tool
  24. swing — music

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