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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  3. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. That was ________________ to happen.
  7. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  8. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  12. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  13. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. The King held a masked ________________.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. When was this ________________ built?
  24. I'll take my ________________ from you.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. bound — obliged
  3. bound — tied together
  4. field — a subject
  5. ball — a great time
  6. bound — certain
  7. temple — side of the head
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. clip — a video
  10. field — farmland
  11. cue — a signal
  12. season — in sport
  13. cue — for pool
  14. field — for sport
  15. ball — a dance
  16. season — of the year
  17. bat — the animal
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. clip — for paper
  21. clip — to cut
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. temple — a place of worship
  24. cue — a hint

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