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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. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  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. deal — an agreement
  2. cell — a phone
  3. saw — the tool
  4. deal — a big deal
  5. field — farmland
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. wound — an injury
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. field — for sport
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. saw — the tool
  13. wind — moving air
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. deal — to handle
  16. wound — an injury
  17. bark — to shout
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. wind — moving air
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. field — a subject
  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