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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 116 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: race · fall · wound · bound · mark · cell · spell · cold

  1. That was ________________ to happen.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. We are ________________ to obey laws.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — certain
  2. cell — a phone
  3. spell — a short time
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. spell — magic
  6. fall — to drop
  7. mark — a grade
  8. wound — an injury
  9. cold — not warm
  10. cell — in biology
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. wound — an injury
  13. mark — a trace
  14. bound — tied together
  15. spell — letters
  16. race — the arms race
  17. mark — to pay attention
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. cold — an illness
  20. fall — to drop
  21. fall — the season
  22. race — a contest
  23. race — humankind
  24. bound — obliged

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