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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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. The tickets are free of ________________.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. charge — electricity
  3. field — for sport
  4. drill — a practice
  5. fall — to drop
  6. row — to paddle
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. field — farmland
  9. spell — a short time
  10. fall — to drop
  11. pitch — completely
  12. field — a subject
  13. charge — in control
  14. drill — army training
  15. fall — the season
  16. prune — to trim
  17. spell — letters
  18. charge — a price
  19. prune — to trim
  20. drill — the tool
  21. row — a line
  22. spell — magic
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. pitch — a sales talk

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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