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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: lean · game · field · craft · bound · row · ground · bark

  1. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  6. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  7. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  12. That was ________________ to happen.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. bound — obliged
  4. field — for sport
  5. lean — to rest against
  6. craft — a handicraft
  7. craft — boats
  8. ground — the earth
  9. ground — a position
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. lean — thin
  12. bound — certain
  13. bark — to shout
  14. bound — tied together
  15. game — a match
  16. row — to paddle
  17. craft — a skill
  18. field — farmland
  19. row — a line
  20. field — a subject
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. ground — crushed
  23. game — wild animals
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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