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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 120 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. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  11. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  12. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. Have you found your soul ________________?
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. spell — letters
  3. field — farmland
  4. patient — calm and waiting
  5. bark — to shout
  6. rock — music
  7. land — a country
  8. wave — of the sea
  9. field — a subject
  10. rock — to move gently
  11. rock — a stone
  12. wave — a sudden rise
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. land — ground
  15. spell — magic
  16. field — for sport
  17. mate — a friend
  18. mate — a partner
  19. land — to come down
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. spell — a short time
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. wave — with your hand

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