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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. He works in a ________________ mill.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. She's very handy with a ________________.
  13. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  14. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. saw — the tool
  3. wound — an injury
  4. bark — to shout
  5. field — for sport
  6. pound — to hit hard
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. fine — all right
  9. hand — in cards
  10. wound — an injury
  11. pound — a weight
  12. saw — the tool
  13. present — a gift
  14. pound — for dogs
  15. field — a subject
  16. present — there
  17. present — the time now
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. fine — a penalty
  20. hand — help
  21. saw — past of 'see'
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. fine — high quality
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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