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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. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  2. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  3. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. That was ________________ to happen.
  17. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — obliged
  2. hide — animal skin
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. field — for sport
  6. scale — size or range
  7. field — farmland
  8. bound — tied together
  9. scale — in music
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. craft — a handicraft
  12. bat — the animal
  13. craft — a skill
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. wind — moving air
  16. bound — certain
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. wind — moving air
  19. craft — boats
  20. field — a subject
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. game — a match
  23. game — wild animals
  24. bat — for baseball

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