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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 took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  5. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  19. That was ________________ to happen.
  20. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. bound — tied together
  3. net — after costs
  4. vault — an arched ceiling
  5. present — a gift
  6. bound — obliged
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. vault — a safe
  9. net — in sport
  10. field — for sport
  11. field — a subject
  12. file — a document
  13. tear — to rip
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. snap — to click
  16. tear — from crying
  17. field — farmland
  18. present — there
  19. bound — certain
  20. vault — in gymnastics
  21. tear — from crying
  22. file — a tool
  23. file — a line of people
  24. present — the time now

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