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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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  4. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  15. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  16. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. The ________________ went through the wall.
  24. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. field — for sport
  3. fan — to cool the air
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. ground — crushed
  6. ground — the earth
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. saw — the tool
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. wake — a trail
  11. ground — a position
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. wound — an injury
  14. rest — a break
  15. rest — what's left
  16. rest — what's left
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. saw — the tool
  19. field — a subject
  20. nail — on a finger
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. wound — an injury
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. fan — a supporter

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