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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 train ________________ at six o'clock.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  10. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  11. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  12. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  22. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  23. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — to go away
  2. bark — to shout
  3. wave — with your hand
  4. field — for sport
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. field — farmland
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. toast — bread
  10. wave — a sudden rise
  11. wave — of the sea
  12. toast — a drink to someone
  13. cell — a phone
  14. wound — an injury
  15. game — wild animals
  16. field — a subject
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. game — a match
  19. wound — an injury
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. leaves — lets stay
  22. toast — the most admired
  23. leaves — of a tree
  24. cell — in biology

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