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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 120 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. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. That was ________________ to happen.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  19. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.

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

Answer key

  1. bank — for money
  2. game — a match
  3. bound — obliged
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. bound — certain
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. wax — to grow
  10. field — farmland
  11. field — a subject
  12. bank — of a river
  13. game — wild animals
  14. field — for sport
  15. spring — the season
  16. bat — the animal
  17. season — in sport
  18. season — of the year
  19. bound — tied together
  20. spring — of water
  21. spring — a coil
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. bank — for money

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