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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. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. She's very handy with a ________________.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Recycle the empty soda ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. can — to be able to
  2. last — finally
  3. last — final
  4. field — for sport
  5. march — the month
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. cold — not warm
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. can — a tin
  10. swing — in golf
  11. march — the month
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. march — music
  14. field — farmland
  15. swing — music
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. last — to go on
  18. saw — the tool
  19. swing — to play on
  20. saw — the tool
  21. field — a subject
  22. saw — past of 'see'
  23. cold — an illness
  24. can — a tin

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