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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: lash · spring · fork · present · wind · chair · field · row

  1. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. field — for sport
  3. present — the time now
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. wind — moving air
  6. lash — an eyelash
  7. spring — the season
  8. wind — moving air
  9. present — a gift
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. spring — of water
  12. row — a line
  13. row — to paddle
  14. lash — to lash out
  15. field — farmland
  16. fork — in a road
  17. lash — a whip stroke
  18. field — a subject
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. chair — a leader
  21. present — there
  22. spring — a coil
  23. fork — to eat with
  24. wind — to turn a key

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