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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: field · roll · sharp · mate · spell · fan · game · spring

  1. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  23. We're on a ________________ here.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. mate — a partner
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. roll — a cake
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. spell — a short time
  9. mate — to breed
  10. field — for sport
  11. sharp — clever
  12. game — a match
  13. spring — of water
  14. game — wild animals
  15. field — farmland
  16. spell — letters
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. mate — a friend
  19. spring — a coil
  20. fan — to cool the air
  21. spring — the season
  22. roll — a list
  23. roll — on a roll
  24. field — a subject

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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