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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. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  7. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  15. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. spell — letters
  4. mouse — for a computer
  5. field — farmland
  6. can — to be able to
  7. can — a tin
  8. wind — moving air
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. game — a match
  11. can — a tin
  12. wind — moving air
  13. spell — magic
  14. mouse — the animal
  15. present — the time now
  16. field — a subject
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. field — for sport
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. spell — a short time
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. game — wild animals
  23. present — a gift
  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