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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. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  4. Have you settled on a ________________?
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  7. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  8. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  12. We're on a ________________ here.
  13. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  14. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  19. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. wound — an injury
  3. roll — a list
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. field — a subject
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. roll — a cake
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. march — the month
  11. date — the fruit
  12. roll — on a roll
  13. mouse — for a computer
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. march — the month
  16. march — music
  17. field — farmland
  18. mouse — the animal
  19. stick — to attach or keep to
  20. row — to paddle
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. field — for sport
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. row — a line

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