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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: saw · wake · pitcher · fall · scale · land · field · fan

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  23. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. land — a country
  3. land — to come down
  4. field — for sport
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. land — ground
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. field — a subject
  10. scale — in music
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. wake — a trail
  13. saw — the tool
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. fall — to drop
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. scale — size or range
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. fall — to drop
  21. fall — the season
  22. wake — before a funeral
  23. fan — to cool the air
  24. saw — the tool

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