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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: wake · safe · scale · craft · ground · degree · field · wind

  1. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  7. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. field — a subject
  3. wind — moving air
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. wind — moving air
  6. craft — boats
  7. craft — a skill
  8. scale — in music
  9. scale — size or range
  10. safe — out of danger
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. degree — an amount
  13. field — for sport
  14. safe — a strongbox
  15. ground — crushed
  16. degree — temperature
  17. field — farmland
  18. ground — a position
  19. ground — the earth
  20. wake — a trail
  21. safe — out of danger
  22. degree — from a university
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. craft — a handicraft

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