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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: wind · field · hand · tube · fork · rest

  1. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. field — a subject
  3. wind — moving air
  4. wind — moving air
  5. field — farmland
  6. fork — in a road
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. rest — a break
  9. tube — a container
  10. rest — what's left
  11. tube — the underground
  12. hand — help
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. field — for sport
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. rest — what's left
  18. hand — in cards

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