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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 are ________________ to obey laws.
  2. That was ________________ to happen.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  11. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  15. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. bound — obliged
  2. bound — certain
  3. field — farmland
  4. field — a subject
  5. march — music
  6. drill — a practice
  7. cold — an illness
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. field — for sport
  10. bound — tied together
  11. foot — part of the body
  12. drill — army training
  13. cold — not warm
  14. foot — the bottom
  15. bank — of a river
  16. march — the month
  17. bank — for money
  18. march — the month
  19. bank — for money
  20. land — a country
  21. land — ground
  22. drill — the tool
  23. foot — a measure
  24. land — to come down

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