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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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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. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  6. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  7. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  10. That was ________________ to happen.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. saw — the tool
  3. object — an aim
  4. last — final
  5. present — there
  6. object — a thing
  7. bound — obliged
  8. field — farmland
  9. bound — tied together
  10. bound — certain
  11. present — a gift
  12. last — finally
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. saw — the tool
  15. field — for sport
  16. last — to go on
  17. present — the time now
  18. field — a subject

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