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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  10. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. field — farmland
  3. field — a subject
  4. spell — a short time
  5. spell — magic
  6. club — for dancing
  7. club — a group
  8. track — a song
  9. club — for golf
  10. fine — all right
  11. band — a ring
  12. fine — high quality
  13. last — finally
  14. drill — army training
  15. track — to keep track
  16. fine — a penalty
  17. last — to go on
  18. drill — the tool
  19. spell — letters
  20. field — for sport
  21. drill — a practice
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. band — a music group
  24. track — a path

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