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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: safe · fork · saw · wake · spring · date · ground · field

  1. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  5. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  18. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  22. Have you settled on a ________________?
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. ground — crushed
  3. spring — the season
  4. safe — out of danger
  5. safe — out of danger
  6. ground — a position
  7. field — farmland
  8. saw — the tool
  9. wake — a trail
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. spring — a coil
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. field — a subject
  15. saw — the tool
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. fork — a garden tool
  18. date — the fruit
  19. ground — the earth
  20. fork — in a road
  21. safe — a strongbox
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. spring — of water
  24. field — for sport

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