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

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. My mare is ________________ in color.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  11. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  20. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. That was ________________ to happen.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. present — the time now
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. field — farmland
  5. field — for sport
  6. bay — a horse colour
  7. shower — to wash
  8. capital — a city
  9. shower — rain
  10. present — there
  11. bound — obliged
  12. capital — money
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. hand — in cards
  15. bound — tied together
  16. saw — the tool
  17. bay — a part of the sea
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. present — a gift
  20. bay — to keep at bay
  21. saw — the tool
  22. bound — certain
  23. field — a subject
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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