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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 120 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. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  9. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  21. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  24. 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. drill — a practice
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. field — a subject
  4. field — farmland
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. present — the time now
  7. snap — to click
  8. rule — a law
  9. bore — to drill
  10. drill — army training
  11. rule — to rule out
  12. cold — an illness
  13. drill — the tool
  14. cold — not warm
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. bore — gave birth
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. present — a gift
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. rule — government
  21. bore — to tire
  22. wake — a trail
  23. present — there
  24. 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