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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 works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  14. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — a company
  2. field — a subject
  3. bowl — to roll
  4. last — to go on
  5. last — finally
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. file — a tool
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. wind — moving air
  10. ground — the earth
  11. bowl — a football final
  12. last — final
  13. firm — decided
  14. firm — steady
  15. file — a line of people
  16. field — for sport
  17. field — farmland
  18. file — a document
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. ground — a position
  21. fork — in a road
  22. ground — crushed
  23. wind — moving air
  24. bowl — a dish

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