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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: wake · bulb · hand · net · nail · rash · land · bound

  1. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  7. That was ________________ to happen.
  8. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. Don't do anything ________________.
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. I've got to change the light ________________.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. The light ________________ burned out.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  23. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  24. The ________________ went through the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — tied together
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. hand — help
  4. land — ground
  5. net — after costs
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. bound — certain
  8. nail — on a finger
  9. rash — a series
  10. net — in sport
  11. rash — hasty
  12. wake — a trail
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. bulb — for light
  15. hand — in cards
  16. land — to come down
  17. land — a country
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. net — for catching
  20. bulb — for light
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. bulb — of a plant
  23. bound — obliged
  24. nail — for a hammer

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