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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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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: current · field · bowl · fork · wake · firm · band · tear

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  4. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  5. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  11. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. tear — from crying
  3. current — happening now
  4. firm — decided
  5. bowl — to roll
  6. tear — to rip
  7. field — a subject
  8. current — electric
  9. band — a ring
  10. firm — a company
  11. bowl — a dish
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. band — a music group
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. fork — to eat with
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. firm — steady
  18. fork — in a road
  19. tear — from crying
  20. current — of water
  21. field — for sport
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. wake — a trail
  24. bowl — a football final

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