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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: bound · swing · bat · mate · march · field · lie · pound

  1. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  6. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. That was ________________ to happen.
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  16. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. pound — to hit hard
  3. mate — to breed
  4. swing — music
  5. lie — to recline
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. bat — the animal
  8. bound — certain
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. bound — tied together
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. swing — in golf
  13. field — farmland
  14. pound — a weight
  15. mate — a friend
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. swing — to play on
  18. march — the month
  19. march — music
  20. field — a subject
  21. march — the month
  22. field — for sport
  23. bound — obliged
  24. bat — in an idiom

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