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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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. I assure you, everything's ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. field — farmland
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. rock — to move gently
  6. spell — letters
  7. rash — hasty
  8. fork — in a road
  9. march — the month
  10. march — the month
  11. hand — in cards
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. spell — magic
  14. spell — a short time
  15. rock — a stone
  16. rash — a series
  17. fine — high quality
  18. march — music
  19. hand — help
  20. field — for sport
  21. fine — a penalty
  22. field — a subject
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. fine — all right

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