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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. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  5. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  6. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  7. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  19. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  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. band — a ring
  2. cue — a hint
  3. field — a subject
  4. present — there
  5. cue — for pool
  6. present — a gift
  7. pass — to succeed
  8. kid — to tease
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. field — farmland
  11. pass — a permit
  12. field — for sport
  13. row — to paddle
  14. drill — army training
  15. drill — a practice
  16. band — a music group
  17. row — a line
  18. present — the time now
  19. pass — to spend time
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. kid — child
  22. cue — a signal
  23. band — a rubber band
  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