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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 124 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 teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  6. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  7. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  8. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  11. We're on a ________________ here.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  14. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. The King held a masked ________________.
  20. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  21. Have you settled on a ________________?
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a list
  2. land — to come down
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. wound — an injury
  5. fine — high quality
  6. wave — a sudden rise
  7. fine — all right
  8. ball — a great time
  9. field — a subject
  10. wave — of the sea
  11. roll — on a roll
  12. land — a country
  13. roll — a cake
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. land — ground
  16. wave — with your hand
  17. field — farmland
  18. field — for sport
  19. ball — a dance
  20. date — the fruit
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. wound — an injury
  23. fine — a penalty
  24. ball — a round shape

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