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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 116 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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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: track · shower · charge · bat · bound · field · snap · game

  1. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  2. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. That was ________________ to happen.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. The tickets are free of ________________.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — obliged
  2. charge — in control
  3. game — wild animals
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. shower — rain
  7. shower — to wash
  8. game — a match
  9. track — a path
  10. field — for sport
  11. track — to keep track
  12. track — a song
  13. field — a subject
  14. bound — tied together
  15. charge — electricity
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. bound — certain
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. charge — a price
  20. bat — the animal
  21. snap — to click
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. game — a kind of play
  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