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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. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. That must've been a ________________.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  12. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  21. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. rush — a thrill
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. prune — to trim
  6. field — farmland
  7. field — a subject
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. bear — to put up with
  10. wind — moving air
  11. bear — the animal
  12. rush — hurry
  13. hand — help
  14. wake — a trail
  15. bear — the animal
  16. wind — moving air
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. chip — to eat
  19. prune — to trim
  20. chip — in a computer
  21. chip — for betting
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. field — for sport
  24. prune — the fruit

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