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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 124 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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. The light ________________ burned out.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. I've got to change the light ________________.
  20. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  21. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  24. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. field — for sport
  3. field — a subject
  4. cold — not warm
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. can — a tin
  7. squash — to crush
  8. cold — an illness
  9. squash — the sport
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. march — music
  13. can — a tin
  14. field — farmland
  15. bulb — for light
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. march — the month
  18. cap — a lid
  19. bulb — for light
  20. cap — of ice
  21. bulb — of a plant
  22. wake — a trail
  23. can — to be able to
  24. cap — a hat

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