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

  1. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. spell — magic
  3. hand — in cards
  4. hand — help
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. fine — a penalty
  7. fork — in a road
  8. rash — hasty
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. spell — a short time
  11. rash — a series
  12. fine — high quality
  13. spell — letters
  14. field — a subject
  15. fine — all right
  16. field — farmland
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. field — for sport

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