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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. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  2. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  12. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. Did you ________________ the meat?
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — a practice
  2. jam — a tight spot
  3. field — a subject
  4. drill — army training
  5. march — the month
  6. land — ground
  7. jam — to spread on bread
  8. land — to come down
  9. season — of the year
  10. game — a match
  11. season — in sport
  12. root — of a word
  13. land — a country
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. root — the cause
  16. drill — the tool
  17. root — of a plant
  18. game — wild animals
  19. field — for sport
  20. season — to add flavour
  21. field — farmland
  22. march — music
  23. jam — in traffic
  24. march — the month

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