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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 get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. He works in a ________________ mill.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. field — farmland
  3. fork — in a road
  4. mine — for digging
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. wake — a trail
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. kick — in football
  10. tube — the underground
  11. saw — the tool
  12. field — a subject
  13. kick — with a leg
  14. field — for sport
  15. tube — a container
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. saw — the tool
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. wake — before a funeral
  24. bat — the animal

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