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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 120 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. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  9. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. wound — an injury
  3. fine — a penalty
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. field — for sport
  8. board — to get on
  9. board — a committee
  10. wound — an injury
  11. board — a flat piece
  12. field — farmland
  13. fine — high quality
  14. tear — to rip
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. wake — a trail
  18. tear — from crying
  19. field — a subject
  20. tear — from crying
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. game — a match
  23. game — wild animals
  24. game — a kind of play

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