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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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  3. The ________________ went through the wall.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  20. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  21. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  22. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. nail — on a finger
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. field — a subject
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. field — for sport
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. lie — to recline
  11. shower — rain
  12. wake — a trail
  13. root — of a word
  14. game — a match
  15. wound — an injury
  16. wound — an injury
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. shower — to wash
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. root — of a plant
  22. root — the cause
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. field — farmland

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