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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 ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  8. What do you think of the new ________________?
  9. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  10. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  11. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  20. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. That was ________________ to happen.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. file — a line of people
  4. file — a tool
  5. fine — all right
  6. bat — the animal
  7. fine — a penalty
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. fine — high quality
  10. bound — obliged
  11. cabinet — a cupboard
  12. field — farmland
  13. field — for sport
  14. rash — hasty
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. field — a subject
  17. file — a document
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. bound — tied together
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. wake — a trail
  22. rash — a series
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. bound — certain

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