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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  10. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  11. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  21. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. spring — a coil
  3. spell — letters
  4. spell — a short time
  5. deal — an agreement
  6. land — a country
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. field — for sport
  9. board — to get on
  10. board — a committee
  11. deal — to handle
  12. land — ground
  13. spring — of water
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. board — a flat piece
  16. spell — magic
  17. field — a subject
  18. spring — the season
  19. wound — an injury
  20. deal — a big deal
  21. sharp — with an edge
  22. sharp — clever
  23. wound — an injury
  24. land — to come down

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