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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. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  8. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  9. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  13. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. That was ________________ to happen.
  21. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. hand — help
  3. net — for catching
  4. cue — for pool
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. hand — in cards
  7. bound — obliged
  8. fine — a penalty
  9. fine — all right
  10. cell — in biology
  11. net — in sport
  12. cue — a signal
  13. fine — high quality
  14. cell — a phone
  15. cue — a hint
  16. field — for sport
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. pop — soda
  19. field — farmland
  20. bound — certain
  21. bound — tied together
  22. net — after costs
  23. field — a subject
  24. pop — music

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