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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 speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  16. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — a trail
  2. field — a subject
  3. march — the month
  4. fork — in a road
  5. chest — of your body
  6. march — music
  7. chest — of your body
  8. court — of law
  9. court — for sport
  10. saw — the tool
  11. field — for sport
  12. current — of water
  13. march — the month
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. current — electric
  16. current — happening now
  17. chest — a box
  18. field — farmland
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. saw — the tool
  22. saw — past of 'see'
  23. court — of a king
  24. fork — a garden tool

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