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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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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: bat · mark · wind · saw · cold · field · bound · wave

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. He works in a ________________ mill.
  3. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  4. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  5. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  12. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. That was ________________ to happen.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. saw — the tool
  3. mark — a trace
  4. mark — to pay attention
  5. wave — of the sea
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. field — farmland
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. cold — an illness
  10. bat — the animal
  11. bound — obliged
  12. mark — a grade
  13. field — for sport
  14. wave — a sudden rise
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. bound — tied together
  17. saw — the tool
  18. bound — certain
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. wind — moving air
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. field — a subject
  23. wind — moving air
  24. wave — with your hand

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