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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 116 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  18. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. drill — the tool
  3. field — for sport
  4. drill — army training
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. drill — a practice
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. field — farmland
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. kid — to tease
  12. wake — a trail
  13. object — an aim
  14. scale — size or range
  15. kid — child
  16. scale — in music
  17. object — a thing
  18. object — to protest

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