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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: tear · bound · lie · game · ruler · ball · field · clip

  1. That was a fun ________________.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  5. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  9. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  12. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. The King held a masked ________________.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. That was ________________ to happen.
  24. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. field — farmland
  3. field — for sport
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. ruler — a monarch
  6. game — wild animals
  7. ball — a great time
  8. ball — a round shape
  9. bound — obliged
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. ruler — for measuring
  13. clip — a video
  14. clip — for paper
  15. ball — a dance
  16. clip — to cut
  17. tear — from crying
  18. bound — tied together
  19. field — a subject
  20. lie — to recline
  21. tear — from crying
  22. tear — to rip
  23. bound — certain
  24. ruler — for measuring

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