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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: mark · wound · lash · wind · march · field · wake · file

  1. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  17. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. march — the month
  3. mark — a grade
  4. wound — an injury
  5. lash — to lash out
  6. wake — a trail
  7. field — for sport
  8. mark — a trace
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. lash — a whip stroke
  11. file — a line of people
  12. march — the month
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. file — a tool
  16. mark — to pay attention
  17. lash — an eyelash
  18. field — a subject
  19. wound — an injury
  20. march — music
  21. file — a document
  22. wind — moving air
  23. wind — moving air
  24. field — farmland

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