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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. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. degree — temperature
  4. last — finally
  5. game — wild animals
  6. field — a subject
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. degree — from a university
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. land — to come down
  12. game — a match
  13. last — to go on
  14. last — final
  15. lie — to recline
  16. field — farmland
  17. degree — an amount
  18. wind — moving air
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. wake — a trail
  21. wind — moving air
  22. land — a country
  23. field — for sport
  24. land — ground

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