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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 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. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. spring — a coil
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. last — finally
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. field — farmland
  9. saw — the tool
  10. bass — low music
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. spring — of water
  13. last — to go on
  14. last — final
  15. bass — the fish
  16. spring — the season
  17. saw — the tool
  18. field — for sport

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