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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. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  3. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  4. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  5. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  11. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  12. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. That was ________________ to happen.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. stick — a piece of wood
  3. bound — tied together
  4. tube — in a tire
  5. bound — obliged
  6. tube — a container
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. snap — to click
  9. field — a subject
  10. bear — the animal
  11. bear — to put up with
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. field — farmland
  14. hand — help
  15. file — a document
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. bound — certain
  18. hand — in cards
  19. stick — to attach or keep to
  20. file — a line of people
  21. field — for sport
  22. tube — the underground
  23. bear — the animal
  24. file — a tool

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