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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 116 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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. Have you found your soul ________________?
  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. land — to come down
  2. land — ground
  3. spell — a short time
  4. spell — magic
  5. trunk — of a tree
  6. drill — army training
  7. field — for sport
  8. prune — to trim
  9. field — farmland
  10. drill — a practice
  11. race — humankind
  12. land — a country
  13. mate — a friend
  14. spell — letters
  15. race — a contest
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. prune — to trim
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. mate — to breed
  20. race — the arms race
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. field — a subject
  23. mate — a partner
  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