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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: game · field · bound · wind · kid · plane · pop · bat

  1. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. The ________________ took off on time.
  3. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  4. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. That was ________________ to happen.
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  21. We're almost out of ________________.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. plane — an aircraft
  3. bound — tied together
  4. plane — in geometry
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. bound — obliged
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. bound — certain
  9. pop — music
  10. field — a subject
  11. wind — moving air
  12. kid — child
  13. field — for sport
  14. game — a match
  15. bat — the animal
  16. wind — moving air
  17. pop — to visit
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. field — farmland
  20. plane — a tool
  21. pop — soda
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. kid — to tease
  24. game — wild animals

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