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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. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. I've got to change the light ________________.
  7. The light ________________ burned out.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. wound — an injury
  3. spell — a short time
  4. field — farmland
  5. ground — a position
  6. bulb — for light
  7. bulb — for light
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. wound — an injury
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. face — part of the head
  13. field — for sport
  14. spell — magic
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. face — to confront
  17. kick — in football
  18. fork — in a road
  19. ground — crushed
  20. face — to point toward
  21. ground — the earth
  22. bulb — of a plant
  23. spell — letters
  24. fork — a garden tool

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