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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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  13. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. I play ________________ in a jazz band.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. drill — the tool
  3. bass — low music
  4. drill — army training
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. spring — a coil
  7. field — for sport
  8. drill — a practice
  9. pass — to succeed
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. field — a subject
  12. pass — a permit
  13. pass — to spend time
  14. spring — the season
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. cell — in biology
  17. field — farmland
  18. bass — the fish
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. shower — to wash
  21. shower — rain
  22. stick — to attach or keep to
  23. spring — of water
  24. bass — the instrument

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