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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  9. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  10. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. That was ________________ to happen.
  15. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. rash — hasty
  3. field — for sport
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. bound — obliged
  6. land — a country
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. stick — a piece of wood
  9. stick — to attach or keep to
  10. racket — a loud noise
  11. bat — the animal
  12. field — farmland
  13. field — a subject
  14. bound — certain
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. rash — a series
  20. bound — tied together
  21. land — ground
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. fork — in a road

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