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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: fine · pit · drill · chest · field · bat · bound · net

  1. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. That was ________________ to happen.
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  11. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. fine — all right
  3. bound — certain
  4. drill — army training
  5. net — in sport
  6. chest — a box
  7. pit — in a race
  8. pit — a hole
  9. bat — the animal
  10. pit — a fruit stone
  11. fine — a penalty
  12. drill — a practice
  13. field — a subject
  14. bound — tied together
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. bound — obliged
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. field — for sport
  19. net — after costs
  20. drill — the tool
  21. field — farmland
  22. chest — of your body
  23. fine — high quality
  24. chest — of your body

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