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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. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  6. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. That was ________________ to happen.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. rest — what's left
  3. field — for sport
  4. drill — a practice
  5. rest — a break
  6. deal — a big deal
  7. field — farmland
  8. drill — the tool
  9. bound — certain
  10. land — to come down
  11. deal — an agreement
  12. rest — what's left
  13. drill — army training
  14. deal — to handle
  15. bound — tied together
  16. cold — an illness
  17. land — a country
  18. land — ground
  19. tear — from crying
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. tear — to rip
  22. bound — obliged
  23. tear — from crying
  24. cold — not warm

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