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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  10. The ________________ took off on time.
  11. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  19. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. Where did you ________________ them?

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. fine — high quality
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. plane — a tool
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. wound — an injury
  7. wound — an injury
  8. field — for sport
  9. plane — in geometry
  10. plane — an aircraft
  11. mug — a face
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. row — to paddle
  14. wind — moving air
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. fine — all right
  17. field — a subject
  18. mug — a cup
  19. fine — a penalty
  20. row — a line
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. wind — moving air
  23. bat — the animal
  24. mug — to rob

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