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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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. My father caught me by the ________________.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. When was this ________________ built?
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. land — ground
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. sharp — clever
  5. field — farmland
  6. wake — a trail
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. temple — side of the head
  11. land — a country
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. cap — a hat
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. bark — to shout
  16. field — a subject
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. arm — a part of something
  19. cap — a lid
  20. land — to come down
  21. temple — a place of worship
  22. cap — of ice
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. bark — of a tree

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