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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.

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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: wound · race · bound · face · ruler · pound · cold · can

  1. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  11. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  12. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  15. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. That was ________________ to happen.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  22. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — obliged
  2. cold — not warm
  3. race — the arms race
  4. face — part of the head
  5. ruler — for measuring
  6. race — a contest
  7. wound — an injury
  8. race — humankind
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. ruler — a monarch
  11. can — a tin
  12. pound — to hit hard
  13. cold — an illness
  14. can — to be able to
  15. ruler — for measuring
  16. face — to confront
  17. bound — certain
  18. pound — a weight
  19. face — to point toward
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. bound — tied together
  22. can — a tin
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. wound — an injury

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