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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. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. field — for sport
  4. field — farmland
  5. snap — to click
  6. field — a subject
  7. court — for sport
  8. bowl — a football final
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. court — of law
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. chest — of your body
  13. court — of a king
  14. fork — in a road
  15. bowl — to roll
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. wake — a trail
  20. fork — a garden tool
  21. chest — a box
  22. bowl — a dish
  23. chest — of your body
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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