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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. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. That was ________________ to happen.
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  5. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. She's very handy with a ________________.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  22. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. Can you turn the ________________ on?

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. bound — certain
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. pitch — completely
  5. pitch — a sports field
  6. bound — obliged
  7. field — farmland
  8. band — a ring
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. net — after costs
  11. band — a music group
  12. saw — the tool
  13. net — in sport
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. field — for sport
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. net — for catching
  18. field — a subject
  19. saw — the tool
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. bound — tied together
  22. pitch — a sales talk
  23. bat — the animal
  24. fan — to cool the air

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