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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  5. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  22. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. track — a song
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. deal — a big deal
  5. chip — to eat
  6. drill — the tool
  7. bowl — a football final
  8. field — for sport
  9. field — a subject
  10. bowl — a dish
  11. drill — a practice
  12. deal — to handle
  13. track — a path
  14. last — to go on
  15. track — to keep track
  16. last — finally
  17. last — final
  18. deal — an agreement
  19. drill — army training
  20. field — farmland
  21. chip — for betting
  22. chip — in a computer
  23. cold — not warm
  24. bowl — to roll

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