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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. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  7. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  13. That must've been a ________________.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. wake — a trail
  3. field — for sport
  4. current — happening now
  5. spell — letters
  6. current — of water
  7. saw — past of 'see'
  8. hand — help
  9. rush — to hurry
  10. stock — shares
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. rush — hurry
  13. rush — a thrill
  14. spell — magic
  15. saw — the tool
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. hand — in cards
  19. spell — a short time
  20. field — a subject
  21. field — farmland
  22. saw — the tool
  23. stock — goods
  24. current — electric

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