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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. That was ________________ to happen.
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  21. The King held a masked ________________.
  22. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  23. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. hand — in cards
  3. field — farmland
  4. prune — to trim
  5. field — for sport
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. ball — a great time
  8. bound — tied together
  9. hand — help
  10. prune — to trim
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. track — a song
  13. chair — a leader
  14. field — a subject
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. bound — certain
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. track — to keep track
  21. ball — a dance
  22. track — a path
  23. bound — obliged
  24. wake — a trail

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