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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. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. Don't do anything ________________.
  13. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  23. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  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. rash — a series
  2. field — a subject
  3. drill — army training
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. drill — a practice
  7. saw — past of 'see'
  8. saw — the tool
  9. perch — the fish
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. rash — hasty
  13. deal — to handle
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. saw — the tool
  16. deal — an agreement
  17. bat — the animal
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. field — farmland
  21. drill — the tool
  22. fan — to cool the air
  23. deal — a big deal
  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