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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: hide · field · last · spell · wake · hand · mark · roll

  1. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  5. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. We're on a ________________ here.
  15. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. We have nothing to ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. roll — a cake
  3. field — for sport
  4. hide — animal skin
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. last — finally
  7. mark — a grade
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. wake — a trail
  11. field — a subject
  12. hand — help
  13. last — to go on
  14. roll — on a roll
  15. mark — a trace
  16. hand — in cards
  17. spell — letters
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. field — farmland
  20. roll — a list
  21. spell — magic
  22. last — final
  23. spell — a short time
  24. hide — to keep secret

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