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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: racket · hand · rush · field · bound · fall · wind · bat

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  6. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  11. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  17. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. That was ________________ to happen.
  22. That must've been a ________________.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. field — a subject
  3. hand — help
  4. rush — hurry
  5. rush — to hurry
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. wind — moving air
  9. fall — to drop
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. racket — a loud noise
  12. bat — the animal
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. wind — moving air
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. bound — tied together
  17. bound — obliged
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. field — for sport
  20. fall — to drop
  21. bound — certain
  22. rush — a thrill
  23. fall — the season
  24. hand — in cards

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