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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. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  2. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  3. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  16. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  17. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. Boris sat near the fire ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. drill — a practice
  3. pit — in a race
  4. field — a subject
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. pit — a fruit stone
  7. content — happy
  8. spell — a short time
  9. drill — army training
  10. content — the amount
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. deal — to handle
  14. field — farmland
  15. deal — an agreement
  16. deal — a big deal
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. field — for sport
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. spell — letters
  21. shower — to wash
  22. drill — the tool
  23. shower — rain
  24. pit — a hole

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