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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 120 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  2. He works in a ________________ mill.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — past of 'see'
  2. saw — the tool
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. saw — the tool
  5. bat — the animal
  6. wind — moving air
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. band — a music group
  9. band — a ring
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. wind — moving air
  12. spell — letters
  13. field — for sport
  14. spell — magic
  15. field — a subject
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. field — farmland
  18. spell — a short time

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