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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. That was ________________ to happen.
  2. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. Have you found your soul ________________?
  6. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  17. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — certain
  2. bound — obliged
  3. field — a subject
  4. face — to confront
  5. mate — a partner
  6. bass — the fish
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. bound — tied together
  9. field — for sport
  10. mate — a friend
  11. bass — low music
  12. capital — a city
  13. degree — temperature
  14. face — part of the head
  15. degree — an amount
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. calf — of the leg
  20. face — to point toward
  21. degree — from a university
  22. capital — money
  23. mate — to breed
  24. field — farmland

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