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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: file · march · bulb · lean · cold · spring · wake · bound

  1. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  4. That was ________________ to happen.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. I've got to change the light ________________.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. The light ________________ burned out.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  24. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — obliged
  2. file — a tool
  3. lean — to bend
  4. bound — certain
  5. march — the month
  6. bulb — for light
  7. file — a document
  8. lean — to rest against
  9. wake — a trail
  10. spring — a coil
  11. lean — thin
  12. spring — the season
  13. march — the month
  14. file — a line of people
  15. cold — not warm
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. bulb — for light
  18. march — music
  19. bulb — of a plant
  20. cold — an illness
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. spring — of water
  23. wake — to stop sleeping
  24. bound — tied together

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