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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. David sat on the ________________.
  2. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  16. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  17. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. fine — high quality
  3. spell — a short time
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. fine — a penalty
  6. race — humankind
  7. spell — letters
  8. fine — all right
  9. field — for sport
  10. fork — in a road
  11. row — to paddle
  12. race — the arms race
  13. field — farmland
  14. field — a subject
  15. present — a gift
  16. present — the time now
  17. fork — a garden tool
  18. swing — music
  19. row — a line
  20. swing — in golf
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. race — a contest
  23. present — there
  24. spell — magic

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