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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Have you found your soul ________________?
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. bank — of a river
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. bank — for money
  5. wake — a trail
  6. cold — an illness
  7. mate — to breed
  8. bank — for money
  9. spell — a short time
  10. ball — a great time
  11. field — a subject
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. spell — letters
  14. last — finally
  15. ball — a round shape
  16. last — final
  17. mate — a friend
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. spell — magic
  20. ball — a dance
  21. last — to go on
  22. cold — not warm
  23. mate — a partner
  24. field — for sport

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