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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: hand · bound · racket · toast · field · lie · clip · rest

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  6. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  7. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  8. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  18. That was ________________ to happen.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  22. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. toast — the most admired
  3. field — farmland
  4. hand — in cards
  5. rest — what's left
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. field — a subject
  10. rest — a break
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. rest — what's left
  13. bound — tied together
  14. bound — obliged
  15. toast — a drink to someone
  16. hand — help
  17. lie — to recline
  18. bound — certain
  19. field — for sport
  20. clip — a video
  21. racket — a loud noise
  22. toast — bread
  23. clip — for paper
  24. racket — for tennis

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