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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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
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: clip · object · bat · wound · bound · hide · cold · stand

  1. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  2. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. I can't ________________ this cold.
  7. That was ________________ to happen.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  15. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  16. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  19. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — tied together
  2. object — a thing
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. stand — on your feet
  5. wound — an injury
  6. stand — to bear
  7. bound — certain
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. cold — an illness
  11. bat — the animal
  12. clip — for paper
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. object — an aim
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. bound — obliged
  17. clip — to cut
  18. object — to protest
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. wound — an injury
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. clip — a video
  23. stand — for spectators
  24. cold — not warm

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