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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: cell · season · drill · cold · saw · land · bound · pop

  1. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  13. That was ________________ to happen.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. She's very handy with a ________________.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. Did you ________________ the meat?
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — past of 'see'
  2. land — ground
  3. pop — soda
  4. season — in sport
  5. cell — in biology
  6. drill — a practice
  7. season — of the year
  8. bound — obliged
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. drill — the tool
  11. pop — music
  12. bound — tied together
  13. bound — certain
  14. cell — a phone
  15. drill — army training
  16. land — a country
  17. pop — to visit
  18. land — to come down
  19. cold — not warm
  20. cold — an illness
  21. saw — the tool
  22. saw — the tool
  23. season — to add flavour
  24. cell — in a prison

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