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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. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  7. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  10. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  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. spell — letters
  2. field — a subject
  3. cold — an illness
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. rock — a stone
  7. rock — to move gently
  8. field — farmland
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. rock — music
  11. spell — magic
  12. spell — a short time
  13. leaves — to go away
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. field — for sport
  16. drill — the tool
  17. drill — army training
  18. leaves — lets stay
  19. cold — not warm
  20. perch — the fish
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. leaves — of a tree
  23. branch — a division
  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