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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 120 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 stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. When was this ________________ built?
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  18. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  21. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  22. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. ground — the earth
  4. bear — the animal
  5. cold — not warm
  6. scale — size or range
  7. ground — crushed
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. ground — a position
  10. foot — a measure
  11. cold — an illness
  12. scale — in music
  13. temple — a place of worship
  14. field — farmland
  15. drill — the tool
  16. field — a subject
  17. bear — the animal
  18. temple — side of the head
  19. drill — a practice
  20. bear — to put up with
  21. foot — the bottom
  22. foot — part of the body
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. drill — army training

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