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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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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: hand · wound · cold · bound · stick · mouse · court · rest

  1. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. That was ________________ to happen.
  4. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  5. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  6. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  7. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  16. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  21. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  22. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  23. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  24. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. bound — certain
  4. bound — obliged
  5. mouse — for a computer
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. court — of law
  9. court — for sport
  10. court — of a king
  11. hand — help
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. hand — in cards
  14. wound — an injury
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. rest — what's left
  17. cold — an illness
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. cold — not warm
  20. rest — a break
  21. bound — tied together
  22. rest — what's left
  23. stick — to attach or keep to
  24. stick — a piece of wood

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