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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. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  3. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  10. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. That was ________________ to happen.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  19. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. bound — tied together
  3. pit — a hole
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. pop — soda
  6. bound — obliged
  7. bat — the animal
  8. pop — music
  9. pit — a fruit stone
  10. object — an aim
  11. field — a subject
  12. object — to protest
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. bound — certain
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. hand — help
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. pit — in a race
  19. object — a thing
  20. hand — in cards
  21. field — for sport
  22. shower — to wash
  23. shower — rain
  24. field — farmland

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