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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  5. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  9. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  18. I can't ________________ this cold.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. field — a subject
  3. wind — moving air
  4. bore — to tire
  5. bore — to drill
  6. cell — a phone
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. fork — in a road
  9. bore — gave birth
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. wind — moving air
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. stand — for spectators
  14. cell — in biology
  15. field — for sport
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. stand — on your feet
  18. stand — to bear

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