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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. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  3. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  6. That was ________________ to happen.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  13. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. This piece is in a major ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  23. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. bound — tied together
  3. bound — obliged
  4. field — for sport
  5. key — for a lock
  6. bound — certain
  7. field — farmland
  8. toast — the most admired
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. bat — the animal
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. toast — bread
  13. lean — to rest against
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. key — in music
  16. cold — an illness
  17. key — the most important part
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. prune — to trim
  20. cold — not warm
  21. prune — to trim
  22. toast — a drink to someone
  23. lean — to bend
  24. field — a subject

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