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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. That was ________________ to happen.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. What do you think of the new ________________?
  17. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  18. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  24. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — certain
  2. game — a match
  3. wind — moving air
  4. prune — to trim
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. pitch — a sports field
  7. chair — a leader
  8. mouse — for a computer
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. bound — tied together
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. game — wild animals
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. wind — moving air
  20. bound — obliged
  21. prune — to trim
  22. pitch — completely
  23. mouse — the animal
  24. cabinet — a cupboard

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