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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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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: field · lie · bore · scale · wake · kid

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  15. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. kid — to tease
  3. bore — to tire
  4. kid — child
  5. field — for sport
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. field — a subject
  9. bore — gave birth
  10. wake — a trail
  11. bore — to drill
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. scale — in music
  14. lie — to recline
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. scale — size or range

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