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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. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  24. Where did you ________________ them?

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

Answer key

  1. mug — a face
  2. field — farmland
  3. wind — moving air
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. wind — moving air
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. field — for sport
  8. rash — hasty
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. row — a line
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. pound — a weight
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. row — to paddle
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. mug — a cup
  18. wake — a trail
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. rash — a series
  21. field — a subject
  22. fork — in a road
  23. pound — to hit hard
  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