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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: swing · tube · field · mouse · bound · rule · march · lean

  1. I'll be taking the ________________.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  5. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  6. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  7. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. That was ________________ to happen.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  19. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  20. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  21. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  24. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. field — farmland
  3. swing — in golf
  4. lean — to rest against
  5. lean — thin
  6. rule — government
  7. mouse — the animal
  8. field — for sport
  9. march — music
  10. swing — to play on
  11. mouse — for a computer
  12. tube — a container
  13. mouse — the animal
  14. march — the month
  15. swing — music
  16. bound — certain
  17. march — the month
  18. tube — in a tire
  19. lean — to bend
  20. bound — obliged
  21. rule — to rule out
  22. field — a subject
  23. rule — a law
  24. bound — tied together

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