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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. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  2. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. That was ________________ to happen.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  24. We are ________________ to obey laws.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — tied together
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. file — a document
  4. field — farmland
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. chest — of your body
  7. chest — a box
  8. file — a tool
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. hide — animal skin
  12. game — wild animals
  13. field — a subject
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. chest — of your body
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. fan — to cool the air
  18. field — for sport
  19. game — a match
  20. bound — certain
  21. file — a line of people
  22. wake — a trail
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. bound — obliged

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