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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. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  2. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  14. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  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. drill — a practice
  2. ruler — a monarch
  3. saw — the tool
  4. field — for sport
  5. field — farmland
  6. ruler — for measuring
  7. field — a subject
  8. rest — what's left
  9. saw — the tool
  10. rest — what's left
  11. season — to add flavour
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. ruler — for measuring
  14. rest — a break
  15. season — in sport
  16. wind — moving air
  17. season — of the year
  18. wind — moving air
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. drill — the tool
  21. cold — not warm
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. cold — an illness
  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