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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. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  4. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. That was ________________ to happen.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  24. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — obliged
  2. squash — the sport
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. board — a flat piece
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. wound — an injury
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. wind — moving air
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. wind — moving air
  11. board — a committee
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. wound — an injury
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. squash — to crush
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. perch — the fish
  18. board — to get on
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. bat — the animal
  21. bound — certain
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. wax — to grow
  24. bound — tied together

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