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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 116 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. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  9. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  16. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  17. That was ________________ to happen.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  22. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — obliged
  2. field — farmland
  3. spell — a short time
  4. tear — from crying
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. bound — tied together
  7. spell — letters
  8. fork — in a road
  9. fork — a garden tool
  10. degree — an amount
  11. tear — from crying
  12. deal — a big deal
  13. tear — to rip
  14. field — for sport
  15. bore — to drill
  16. deal — an agreement
  17. bound — certain
  18. field — a subject
  19. degree — from a university
  20. spell — magic
  21. bore — to tire
  22. deal — to handle
  23. degree — temperature
  24. bore — gave birth

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