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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. That was ________________ to happen.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  12. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. game — wild animals
  3. wave — with your hand
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. wave — of the sea
  6. last — final
  7. field — for sport
  8. bound — certain
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. wound — an injury
  11. club — a group
  12. wave — a sudden rise
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. club — for golf
  15. game — a match
  16. bound — obliged
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. field — a subject
  19. wound — an injury
  20. bound — tied together
  21. last — to go on
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. club — for dancing
  24. field — farmland

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