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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 · shower · wake · rest · bulb · hand · pit · charge

  1. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  5. The tickets are free of ________________.
  6. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  18. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. I've got to change the light ________________.
  22. The light ________________ burned out.
  23. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  24. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. field — farmland
  3. field — a subject
  4. pit — in a race
  5. charge — a price
  6. bulb — of a plant
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. charge — electricity
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. pit — a fruit stone
  12. hand — help
  13. wake — a trail
  14. shower — to wash
  15. pit — a hole
  16. hand — in cards
  17. charge — in control
  18. rest — what's left
  19. shower — rain
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. bulb — for light
  22. bulb — for light
  23. rest — a break
  24. rest — what's left

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