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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. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  3. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  4. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  5. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  8. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  9. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. That was ________________ to happen.
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. lie — to recline
  3. pass — a permit
  4. pass — to succeed
  5. swing — music
  6. field — a subject
  7. bound — tied together
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. pass — to spend time
  10. field — for sport
  11. wind — moving air
  12. bound — obliged
  13. wind — moving air
  14. court — of a king
  15. file — a line of people
  16. file — a tool
  17. file — a document
  18. field — farmland
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. swing — in golf
  22. bound — certain
  23. swing — to play on
  24. court — of law

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