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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 · tube · field · hand · bat · wound · can · ground

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. That was ________________ to happen.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. can — to be able to
  4. ground — the earth
  5. field — for sport
  6. hand — in cards
  7. can — a tin
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. bat — the animal
  10. can — a tin
  11. ground — a position
  12. bound — obliged
  13. ground — crushed
  14. wound — an injury
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. field — farmland
  17. tube — the underground
  18. tube — a container
  19. field — a subject
  20. wound — an injury
  21. bound — tied together
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. bound — certain

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