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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  4. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  7. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  12. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. field — for sport
  3. mark — a grade
  4. mark — to pay attention
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. lash — a whip stroke
  7. lash — an eyelash
  8. land — ground
  9. cold — an illness
  10. fork — in a road
  11. lash — to lash out
  12. mark — a trace
  13. field — farmland
  14. last — to go on
  15. fall — to drop
  16. fall — to drop
  17. last — final
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. fall — the season
  20. land — to come down
  21. last — finally
  22. cold — not warm
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. land — a country

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