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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 didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  21. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. bass — the fish
  5. pop — to visit
  6. fork — in a road
  7. bass — low music
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. field — for sport
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. field — farmland
  12. field — a subject
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. pop — music
  15. court — for sport
  16. court — of a king
  17. court — of law
  18. wind — moving air
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. hide — animal skin
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. wind — moving air
  23. pop — soda
  24. wake — a trail

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