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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 120 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. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  2. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. That was ________________ to happen.
  16. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  20. Have you found your soul ________________?
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. Did you ________________ the button?
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — to hit hard
  2. bound — tied together
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. press — a publisher
  5. mate — a friend
  6. clip — to cut
  7. mate — to breed
  8. game — a match
  9. clip — a video
  10. field — a subject
  11. game — wild animals
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. field — for sport
  14. clip — for paper
  15. bound — certain
  16. bound — obliged
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. pound — a weight
  20. mate — a partner
  21. press — newspapers
  22. press — to push
  23. pitcher — a jug
  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