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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. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  14. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  20. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. clip — for paper
  4. wound — an injury
  5. field — for sport
  6. wake — a trail
  7. club — for dancing
  8. clip — a video
  9. club — a group
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. mark — a grade
  12. wound — an injury
  13. club — for golf
  14. jam — a tight spot
  15. clip — to cut
  16. fork — in a road
  17. mark — a trace
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. fork — a garden tool
  20. jam — to spread on bread
  21. field — a subject
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. jam — in traffic
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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