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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  11. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  14. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  18. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. spell — a short time
  3. march — music
  4. pass — to succeed
  5. field — farmland
  6. board — a flat piece
  7. spell — magic
  8. pass — a permit
  9. drill — army training
  10. dip — to sink
  11. board — to get on
  12. march — the month
  13. pass — to spend time
  14. board — a committee
  15. cell — in biology
  16. drill — a practice
  17. dip — a sauce
  18. dip — to dunk
  19. spell — letters
  20. field — for sport
  21. march — the month
  22. cell — a phone
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. drill — the tool

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