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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. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. drill — army training
  3. field — a subject
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. bowl — to roll
  6. spring — the season
  7. field — for sport
  8. bass — the fish
  9. spring — a coil
  10. rash — hasty
  11. ground — the earth
  12. bowl — a dish
  13. ground — crushed
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. bowl — a football final
  16. field — farmland
  17. drill — a practice
  18. drill — the tool
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. bass — low music
  21. ground — a position
  22. kid — child
  23. kid — to tease
  24. rash — a series

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