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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. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  3. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  8. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. dip — a sauce
  3. mark — to pay attention
  4. field — for sport
  5. last — finally
  6. field — farmland
  7. mark — a trace
  8. dip — to dunk
  9. row — to paddle
  10. present — the time now
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. last — final
  13. wake — a trail
  14. present — there
  15. field — a subject
  16. mark — a grade
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. drill — army training
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. row — a line
  21. last — to go on
  22. drill — the tool
  23. drill — a practice
  24. dip — to sink

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