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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: sharp · prune · bound · wake · race · bear · chair · cold

  1. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. That was ________________ to happen.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — obliged
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. bound — certain
  5. wake — a trail
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. race — the arms race
  8. chair — a leader
  9. race — a contest
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. bear — to put up with
  13. cold — not warm
  14. race — humankind
  15. cold — an illness
  16. bear — the animal
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. prune — to trim
  19. sharp — clever
  20. bear — the animal
  21. prune — to trim
  22. bound — tied together
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. wake — before a funeral

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