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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: bass · rule · firm · row · bound · cold · lash · kid

  1. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  2. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  7. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  18. That was ________________ to happen.
  19. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  20. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  23. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  24. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — obliged
  2. rule — government
  3. kid — to tease
  4. firm — decided
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. bound — tied together
  7. rule — a law
  8. row — to paddle
  9. kid — child
  10. row — a line
  11. cold — an illness
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. bass — the instrument
  15. bass — the fish
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. lash — an eyelash
  18. bound — certain
  19. bass — low music
  20. firm — steady
  21. cold — not warm
  22. lash — to lash out
  23. lash — a whip stroke
  24. firm — a company

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