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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. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  9. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  10. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  20. We're almost out of ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. I assure you, everything's ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. cold — not warm
  4. dip — to dunk
  5. drill — a practice
  6. cold — an illness
  7. drill — army training
  8. pass — to spend time
  9. dip — a sauce
  10. pass — a permit
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. field — for sport
  13. wake — a trail
  14. dip — to sink
  15. drill — the tool
  16. pop — to visit
  17. fine — a penalty
  18. field — farmland
  19. pop — music
  20. pop — soda
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. pass — to succeed
  23. field — a subject
  24. fine — all right

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