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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: wound · field · rest · club · lash · mine · fork · key

  1. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  3. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  4. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. This piece is in a major ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  19. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  22. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  23. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  24. Hard work is the ________________ to success.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. rest — a break
  3. club — a group
  4. lash — a whip stroke
  5. field — farmland
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. fork — in a road
  8. field — a subject
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. key — in music
  11. lash — to lash out
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. wound — an injury
  14. field — for sport
  15. wound — an injury
  16. club — for dancing
  17. mine — for digging
  18. fork — a garden tool
  19. rest — what's left
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. key — for a lock
  22. rest — what's left
  23. lash — an eyelash
  24. key — the most important part

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