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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. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — a series
  2. rash — hasty
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. board — to get on
  5. wind — moving air
  6. court — of law
  7. fork — in a road
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. field — farmland
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. field — a subject
  14. court — of a king
  15. spring — of water
  16. sharp — clever
  17. board — a committee
  18. wind — moving air
  19. field — for sport
  20. spring — a coil
  21. board — a flat piece
  22. spring — the season
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. court — 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