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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. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  3. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. scale — size or range
  3. object — to protest
  4. shower — to wash
  5. deal — a big deal
  6. hand — in cards
  7. object — a thing
  8. field — a subject
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. deal — to handle
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. shower — rain
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. mine — for digging
  16. hand — help
  17. deal — an agreement
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. scale — in music
  20. wake — a trail
  21. field — farmland
  22. object — an aim
  23. field — for sport
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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