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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. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. I've got to change the light ________________.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  11. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. The light ________________ burned out.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. safe — out of danger
  2. field — a subject
  3. field — for sport
  4. spring — a coil
  5. shower — to wash
  6. bulb — for light
  7. field — farmland
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. safe — out of danger
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. spring — of water
  14. safe — a strongbox
  15. perch — the fish
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. shower — rain
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. spring — the season
  20. bulb — for light
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. fork — in a road
  23. bulb — of a plant
  24. bat — the animal

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