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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. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  22. How do you ________________ your surname?
  23. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. last — finally
  3. spell — magic
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. field — farmland
  6. drill — a practice
  7. last — final
  8. field — a subject
  9. spell — a short time
  10. field — for sport
  11. snap — to click
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. fall — the season
  16. drill — army training
  17. drill — the tool
  18. last — to go on
  19. fall — to drop
  20. fall — to drop
  21. mark — a grade
  22. spell — letters
  23. mark — a trace
  24. patient — a sick person

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