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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. That was ________________ to happen.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  23. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  24. We are ________________ to obey laws.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — certain
  2. hand — help
  3. field — for sport
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. cold — not warm
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. board — a flat piece
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. hand — in cards
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. field — a subject
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. swing — to play on
  15. bound — tied together
  16. field — farmland
  17. board — a committee
  18. swing — in golf
  19. cold — an illness
  20. swing — music
  21. perch — the fish
  22. stick — to attach or keep to
  23. board — to get on
  24. bound — obliged

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