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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: bowl · field · bound · race · tear · net · hide · date

  1. Have you settled on a ________________?
  2. That was ________________ to happen.
  3. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  4. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  5. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  12. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  20. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. bound — certain
  3. bowl — a dish
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. hide — animal skin
  6. tear — to rip
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. net — in sport
  9. field — a subject
  10. race — a contest
  11. bowl — a football final
  12. bound — tied together
  13. tear — from crying
  14. race — humankind
  15. date — the fruit
  16. net — for catching
  17. tear — from crying
  18. field — for sport
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. bound — obliged
  21. race — the arms race
  22. net — after costs
  23. bowl — to roll
  24. field — farmland

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