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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. The ________________ took off on time.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  14. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  22. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. field — farmland
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. spell — magic
  5. last — finally
  6. mouse — for a computer
  7. wound — an injury
  8. plane — an aircraft
  9. last — final
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. spell — letters
  12. wake — a trail
  13. bass — low music
  14. plane — a tool
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. wound — an injury
  17. field — for sport
  18. bass — the fish
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. last — to go on
  21. plane — in geometry
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. spell — a short time

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