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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: net · wind · last · field · degree · fan · roll · bound

  1. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. We're on a ________________ here.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  8. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  9. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. That was ________________ to happen.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — obliged
  2. degree — from a university
  3. degree — an amount
  4. field — a subject
  5. roll — on a roll
  6. last — finally
  7. roll — a cake
  8. fan — to cool the air
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. last — final
  11. bound — tied together
  12. net — in sport
  13. roll — a list
  14. net — after costs
  15. bound — certain
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. degree — temperature
  18. last — to go on
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. wind — moving air
  21. net — for catching
  22. field — farmland
  23. field — for sport
  24. wind — moving air

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