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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. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. This piece is in a major ________________.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  17. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  18. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  19. That was ________________ to happen.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. Have you settled on a ________________?
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — tied together
  2. field — a subject
  3. field — for sport
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. field — farmland
  7. date — the fruit
  8. staff — a stick
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. staff — employees
  11. clip — a video
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. key — in music
  14. wind — moving air
  15. clip — to cut
  16. staff — employees
  17. bound — obliged
  18. key — for a lock
  19. bound — certain
  20. wind — moving air
  21. key — the most important part
  22. mine — for digging
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. clip — for paper

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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