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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. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  12. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — certain
  2. bound — obliged
  3. field — farmland
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. shower — to wash
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. rash — hasty
  8. shower — rain
  9. club — for dancing
  10. rash — a series
  11. pitch — a sales talk
  12. club — for golf
  13. bound — tied together
  14. field — for sport
  15. lie — to recline
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. club — a group
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. field — a subject
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. pitch — completely
  24. pitch — a sports field

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