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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 116 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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  6. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  24. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. firm — decided
  4. cold — an illness
  5. firm — steady
  6. fork — in a road
  7. rash — hasty
  8. row — to paddle
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. rash — a series
  12. row — a line
  13. cold — not warm
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. field — for sport
  16. firm — a company
  17. field — farmland
  18. content — happy
  19. content — the amount
  20. wave — a sudden rise
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. wave — with your hand
  24. wave — of the sea

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