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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. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. That was ________________ to happen.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. bound — certain
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. court — for sport
  7. field — for sport
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. court — of a king
  10. bound — obliged
  11. spell — a short time
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. field — a subject
  14. racket — a loud noise
  15. court — of law
  16. spell — letters
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. spell — magic
  19. bat — the animal
  20. bound — tied together
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. field — farmland
  23. wind — moving air
  24. wind — to turn a key

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