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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 124 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 girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  7. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  12. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  13. Have you settled on a ________________?
  14. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. This piece is in a major ________________.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  20. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  21. When was this ________________ built?
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. 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. row — a line
  2. date — the fruit
  3. field — for sport
  4. spell — letters
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. key — for a lock
  7. temple — a place of worship
  8. field — a subject
  9. key — the most important part
  10. field — farmland
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. temple — side of the head
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. bank — for money
  15. land — to come down
  16. land — a country
  17. key — in music
  18. row — to paddle
  19. bank — for money
  20. bank — of a river
  21. temple — a place of worship
  22. land — ground
  23. spell — magic
  24. 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