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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. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. That was ________________ to happen.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  5. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. This piece is in a major ________________.
  13. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. bound — certain
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. board — a committee
  5. bound — obliged
  6. hand — help
  7. key — for a lock
  8. field — farmland
  9. wind — moving air
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. key — in music
  13. board — to get on
  14. field — a subject
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. field — for sport
  17. hand — in cards
  18. key — the most important part
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. bound — tied together
  21. bass — the fish
  22. board — a flat piece
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. wind — moving air

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