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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. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  2. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  3. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. That was ________________ to happen.
  10. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. bear — to put up with
  2. bound — obliged
  3. board — a flat piece
  4. hand — in cards
  5. kid — to tease
  6. wake — a trail
  7. board — to get on
  8. field — for sport
  9. bound — certain
  10. board — a committee
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. bound — tied together
  14. field — farmland
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. bear — the animal
  17. net — for catching
  18. net — in sport
  19. hand — help
  20. kid — child
  21. bear — the animal
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. field — a subject
  24. net — after costs

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