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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. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  4. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  5. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. This piece is in a major ________________.
  13. That was ________________ to happen.
  14. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. hand — help
  3. bound — obliged
  4. bound — tied together
  5. key — for a lock
  6. field — for sport
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. wake — a trail
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. can — a tin
  11. field — farmland
  12. key — in music
  13. bound — certain
  14. key — the most important part
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. cold — not warm
  17. field — a subject
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. cold — an illness
  21. can — to be able to
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. can — a tin
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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