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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  10. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  11. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. Have you settled on a ________________?
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. bear — to put up with
  3. field — a subject
  4. field — farmland
  5. present — a gift
  6. perch — the fish
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. wound — an injury
  9. bear — the animal
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. bear — the animal
  12. wound — an injury
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. fork — in a road
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. date — the fruit
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. mine — for digging
  21. present — the time now
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. field — for sport
  24. present — there

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