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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. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  3. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  4. That must've been a ________________.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. That was ________________ to happen.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  16. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  21. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  22. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  23. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. object — an aim
  3. object — to protest
  4. rush — a thrill
  5. game — a match
  6. bound — certain
  7. file — a document
  8. field — a subject
  9. squash — to crush
  10. rush — hurry
  11. game — wild animals
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. hide — animal skin
  16. object — a thing
  17. file — a tool
  18. field — farmland
  19. file — a line of people
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. bound — tied together
  22. bound — obliged
  23. rush — to hurry
  24. field — for sport

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