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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. march — the month
  3. spell — letters
  4. spell — magic
  5. wake — before a funeral
  6. wound — an injury
  7. march — the month
  8. spring — the season
  9. spring — of water
  10. field — for sport
  11. march — music
  12. craft — a skill
  13. wake — a trail
  14. swing — in golf
  15. swing — music
  16. swing — to play on
  17. craft — a handicraft
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. wound — an injury
  20. craft — boats
  21. field — farmland
  22. spell — a short time
  23. spring — a coil
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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