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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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  13. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. scale — in music
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. field — a subject
  5. firm — steady
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. field — farmland
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. bowl — to roll
  10. shower — to wash
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. firm — decided
  13. fork — a garden tool
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. field — for sport
  16. wound — an injury
  17. firm — a company
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. bowl — a football final
  20. scale — size or range
  21. fork — in a road
  22. shower — rain
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. wound — an injury

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