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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. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. That was ________________ to happen.
  5. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  15. The ________________ went through the wall.
  16. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. chest — of your body
  3. field — a subject
  4. bound — certain
  5. bound — tied together
  6. ground — a position
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. chest — a box
  9. field — for sport
  10. cap — of ice
  11. bound — obliged
  12. chest — of your body
  13. pitch — completely
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. nail — on a finger
  17. field — farmland
  18. pitch — a sports field
  19. cap — a lid
  20. cap — a hat
  21. perch — the fish
  22. pitch — a sales talk
  23. ground — crushed
  24. ground — the earth

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