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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. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  2. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. That was ________________ to happen.
  8. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. Have you settled on a ________________?
  12. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — obliged
  2. track — a path
  3. bound — tied together
  4. saw — the tool
  5. field — a subject
  6. track — a song
  7. bound — certain
  8. track — to keep track
  9. hand — in cards
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. date — the fruit
  13. swing — in golf
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. swing — to play on
  16. field — farmland
  17. hand — help
  18. drill — a practice
  19. field — for sport
  20. saw — the tool
  21. drill — the tool
  22. drill — army training
  23. swing — music
  24. hand — part of the body

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