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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. That must've been a ________________.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  14. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  17. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. He had ________________ pain while walking.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. spell — letters
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. field — for sport
  5. field — a subject
  6. fall — to drop
  7. wake — a trail
  8. rush — a thrill
  9. degree — from a university
  10. degree — an amount
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. spell — a short time
  13. rule — a law
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. spell — magic
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. rush — to hurry
  18. degree — temperature
  19. fall — to drop
  20. rule — government
  21. fall — the season
  22. rule — to rule out
  23. field — farmland
  24. calf — of the leg

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