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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 need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  11. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. We're almost out of ________________.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. Have you met the new head ________________?
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — to handle
  2. pop — to visit
  3. spell — a short time
  4. spell — letters
  5. drill — a practice
  6. field — farmland
  7. field — a subject
  8. deal — a big deal
  9. bark — to shout
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. deal — an agreement
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. file — a document
  15. pop — music
  16. coach — pulled by horses
  17. file — a tool
  18. drill — the tool
  19. spell — magic
  20. drill — army training
  21. pop — soda
  22. file — a line of people
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. field — for sport

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