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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. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  20. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. fork — in a road
  4. band — a ring
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. field — a subject
  7. saw — the tool
  8. field — farmland
  9. mine — for digging
  10. deal — a big deal
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. swing — to play on
  14. saw — the tool
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. band — a music group
  17. swing — in golf
  18. swing — music
  19. deal — an agreement
  20. deal — to handle
  21. field — for sport
  22. spring — of water
  23. spring — a coil
  24. mine — belonging to me

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