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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. He is an ace ________________.
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  4. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Should I buy a wireless ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. wound — an injury
  3. wake — a trail
  4. mouse — the animal
  5. field — farmland
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. fork — in a road
  9. field — a subject
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. cold — an illness
  12. wind — moving air
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. wind — moving air
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. wound — an injury
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. field — for sport
  23. cold — not warm
  24. mouse — for a computer

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