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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  11. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  12. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. This piece is in a major ________________.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. field — for sport
  3. fan — to cool the air
  4. mate — a partner
  5. march — music
  6. field — farmland
  7. rash — a series
  8. cold — not warm
  9. cold — an illness
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. key — for a lock
  12. key — the most important part
  13. mate — a friend
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. march — the month
  16. rash — hasty
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. march — the month
  19. key — in music
  20. mine — for digging
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. mate — to breed

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