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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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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: bound · vault · shower · bat · fork · straw · snap · field

  1. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. That was ________________ to happen.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — obliged
  2. field — a subject
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. bound — certain
  8. field — farmland
  9. shower — to wash
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. shower — rain
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. fork — a garden tool
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. fork — in a road
  17. vault — an arched ceiling
  18. snap — to click
  19. bat — the animal
  20. vault — a safe
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. bound — tied together
  23. field — for sport
  24. vault — in gymnastics

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