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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. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  2. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  3. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  17. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. That was ________________ to happen.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — in golf
  2. dip — to sink
  3. bound — obliged
  4. wound — an injury
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. bat — the animal
  7. drill — a practice
  8. field — for sport
  9. field — farmland
  10. row — a line
  11. drill — army training
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. field — a subject
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. dip — to dunk
  17. bound — tied together
  18. dip — a sauce
  19. swing — to play on
  20. swing — music
  21. bound — certain
  22. row — to paddle
  23. wound — an injury
  24. drill — the tool

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