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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 116 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. This piece is in a major ________________.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. key — in music
  2. wind — moving air
  3. row — to paddle
  4. row — a line
  5. field — farmland
  6. field — a subject
  7. last — final
  8. content — happy
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. wake — a trail
  11. last — to go on
  12. key — the most important part
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. content — the amount
  15. field — for sport
  16. last — finally
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. wind — moving air
  19. fall — to drop
  20. fall — to drop
  21. key — for a lock
  22. fall — the season
  23. wake — to stop sleeping
  24. content — videos and posts

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