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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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  13. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  24. She got the top ________________ in the exam.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. drill — the tool
  4. wave — of the sea
  5. field — a subject
  6. drill — a practice
  7. land — to come down
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. land — ground
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. wave — with your hand
  13. mark — a trace
  14. kid — to tease
  15. stem — to come from
  16. kid — child
  17. land — a country
  18. mark — to pay attention
  19. bark — to shout
  20. field — farmland
  21. drill — army training
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. wave — a sudden rise
  24. mark — a grade

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