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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. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  6. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  15. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  18. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. field — a subject
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. board — a committee
  6. pit — a fruit stone
  7. field — farmland
  8. wake — a trail
  9. spring — a coil
  10. court — for sport
  11. fork — in a road
  12. march — the month
  13. march — the month
  14. board — to get on
  15. board — a flat piece
  16. court — of a king
  17. pit — a hole
  18. pit — in a race
  19. march — music
  20. court — of law
  21. fork — a garden tool
  22. spring — the season
  23. spring — of water
  24. field — for sport

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