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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 ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  4. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. Have you met the new head ________________?
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. That was ________________ to happen.
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  19. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. field — a subject
  3. bound — tied together
  4. rest — what's left
  5. field — for sport
  6. hand — help
  7. rest — a break
  8. hand — in cards
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. wind — moving air
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. land — ground
  13. bound — certain
  14. bound — obliged
  15. field — farmland
  16. land — to come down
  17. wind — moving air
  18. rest — what's left
  19. coach — pulled by horses
  20. land — a country
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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