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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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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: court · bound · content · wound · pound · object · saw · lean

  1. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. object — an aim
  3. lean — to rest against
  4. content — happy
  5. bound — certain
  6. bound — tied together
  7. saw — the tool
  8. object — to protest
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. saw — the tool
  11. court — of law
  12. content — the amount
  13. lean — to bend
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. court — for sport
  17. wound — an injury
  18. court — of a king
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. bound — obliged
  21. wound — an injury
  22. pound — for dogs
  23. pound — a weight
  24. object — a thing

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