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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 116 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  2. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. That was ________________ to happen.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — obliged
  2. wave — a sudden rise
  3. field — a subject
  4. bound — certain
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. face — part of the head
  8. face — to point toward
  9. face — to confront
  10. field — for sport
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. wave — of the sea
  13. field — farmland
  14. bound — tied together
  15. wound — an injury
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. wave — with your hand
  18. 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