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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  3. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. fork — in a road
  3. lie — to recline
  4. spell — letters
  5. squash — the sport
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. spell — a short time
  11. field — for sport
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. wound — an injury
  14. field — farmland
  15. squash — to crush
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. wound — an injury
  18. spell — magic

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