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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. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  11. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. That was ________________ to happen.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. drill — the tool
  4. last — final
  5. bound — obliged
  6. field — a subject
  7. drill — army training
  8. track — a path
  9. track — to keep track
  10. track — a song
  11. cap — a hat
  12. last — finally
  13. last — to go on
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. bark — to shout
  16. bound — tied together
  17. cap — a lid
  18. bound — certain
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. cap — of ice
  21. field — farmland
  22. field — for sport
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. drill — a practice

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