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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: craft · mate · bound · pop · band · field · race · bat

  1. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. Have you found your soul ________________?
  10. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  15. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  16. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. You don't need to ________________ round.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. That was ________________ to happen.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — obliged
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. field — farmland
  4. field — a subject
  5. pop — soda
  6. field — for sport
  7. bound — tied together
  8. band — a music group
  9. mate — a partner
  10. craft — boats
  11. band — a ring
  12. bat — the animal
  13. race — the arms race
  14. pop — music
  15. craft — a skill
  16. craft — a handicraft
  17. race — a contest
  18. mate — a friend
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. mate — to breed
  22. pop — to visit
  23. race — humankind
  24. bound — certain

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