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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. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  8. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. pit — a hole
  3. spring — the season
  4. scale — in music
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. rash — hasty
  7. pit — a fruit stone
  8. can — a tin
  9. field — farmland
  10. rash — a series
  11. spring — of water
  12. pit — in a race
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. field — a subject
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. wake — a trail
  19. field — for sport
  20. bat — the animal
  21. can — a tin
  22. spring — a coil
  23. can — to be able to
  24. scale — size or range

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