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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. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. I've got to change the light ________________.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. Have you settled on a ________________?
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  10. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  11. The light ________________ burned out.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  19. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  22. That was ________________ to happen.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. field — a subject
  3. net — in sport
  4. game — a match
  5. bulb — for light
  6. wake — a trail
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. field — farmland
  9. bound — obliged
  10. bulb — of a plant
  11. bulb — for light
  12. game — wild animals
  13. hide — animal skin
  14. net — for catching
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. net — after costs
  18. date — the fruit
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. field — for sport
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. bound — certain
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. bound — tied together

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